PB0549 - Comparative Studies on Clotting and Antiprotease Profile of Heparins of Ovine, Bovine and Porcine Origin

Background: Currently used unfractionated heparin is mainly derived from porcine mucosal tissue. Bovine and ovine mucosa is also used for the extraction of heparin. The availability of unfractionated heparin from non-porcine origin will provide alternate options for anticoagulation.

Aims: This study is aimed to compare porcine heparin with newly developed ovine and bovine heparins.

Methods: Ten individual batches of ovine heparins were obtained from Ronnsi Pharmaceutical (Suzhou, China), 10 batches of porcine mucosal heparin were obtained from Medefil Laboratories (Glendale Heights, USA), 10 batches of ovine heparin were obtained from Kin Master (Passo Fundo, Brazil), and 13 additional batches of bovine heparin were obtained from Adeste (Sao Paulo, Brazil). All heparins were re-constituted using saline to obtain a stock solution of 10 mg/ml. Normal human plasma was supplemented to obtain a concentration of 2.5 g/ml. APTT and thrombin time measurements were measured using clot-based assays, while anti-Xa and anti-IIa activities were measured using amidolytic assays. Activated clotting time measurements were measured in the whole blood clotting assays.

Results: Results were compiled for each of the heparins as a group means + 1 SD (Table 1). In both thrombin time and aPTT assays, ovine and porcine heparins produced comparable, much stronger anticoagulant effects in comparison to the bovine heparins. Similarly, in the ACT assays the ovine and porcine heparins produce stronger effects in comparison to two bovine groups of heparins. Batch variations were also noted.

Conclusion(s): These results show that the ovine and porcine heparins exhibit comparable anticoagulant and antiprotease effects. The bovine heparins from two different manufacturers show comparable results in all of the assays, however these effects were weaker when compared to porcine and ovine heparins. These results are suggestive of potency adjustment for bovine heparins to produce comparable anticoagulant and antiprotease actions using USP assays.