Generalidades del sistema de la coagulación y pruebas para su estudio / Overwiew of the Coagulation System and laboratory tests for its study

En la década de los años sesenta, se describió la cascada de la coagulación como una secuencia de eventos enzimáticos iniciada por dos vías, la intrínseca y la extrínseca, las cuales convergían en una vía común para generar una enzima multifuncional, denominada trombina. La principal función de esta enzima consistía en transformar el fibrinógeno, en fibrina, una proteína que se polimeriza espontáneamente para formar la base estructural del coágulo. Posteriormente, se propuso el Modelo Celular según el cual la coagulación no es la consecuencia de vías de activación enzimáticas secuenciales, sino de una red de interacciones entre proteínas plasmáticas y transmembranas, así como, varios tipos celulares, que permiten la formación de complejos enzimáticos altamente eficientes con la finalidad de generar trombina. Esta revisión explica en detalle ambos enfoques, además, aborda las diferentes funciones que cumple la trombina dentro de la hemostasia y los mecanismos de inhibición que regulan la coagulación. Finalmente, se describen diferentes pruebas empleadas en la actualidad para evaluar la funcionalidad del sistema de coagulación, como: el tiempo de tromboplastina parcial activado, el tiempo de protrombina, el tiempo de trombina, el tiempo de reptilasa, el tiempo de coagulación por ecarina y el uso de sustratos cromogénicos para evaluar cada factor de la coagulación. Finalmente, dado a que la generación de trombina es clave dentro de la coagulación y a que el potencial de generar trombina puede indicar propensión a desarrollar eventos trombóticos o hemorrágicos, en este trabajo se presentan los métodos existentes para determinar la generación de trombina.

In the sixties, the clotting cascade was proposed, which describes the coagulation process as a sequence of enzymatic events initiated by two different pathways, the intrinsic and the extrinsic pathways, converging on a common pathway, to generate a multifunctional enzyme, thrombin, whose main function is to convert fibrinogen into fibrin, a protein that polymerizes spontaneously to form the building block of a hemostatic clot. Later, it was proposed a cell-based model of the hemostasis according to that coagulation does not occur as a consequence of linear sequential enzyme activation pathways, but rather via a network of simultaneous interactions between plasmatic and transmembrane proteins, as well as several cellular types, that allow the formation of highly efficient enzymatic complexes that lead to thrombin generation. In this review, we summarize these two approaches highlighting the functions of thrombin within the hemostasis and the inhibition mechanisms that regulate the blood coagulation. Moreover, we described different tests that are used to assess the function of the coagulation system, such as: activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, thrombin time, reptilase time, ecarin clotting time, and the use of chromogenic substrates to evaluate individual coagulation factors. Finally, because of thrombin generation is a fundamental part of the blood coagulation and, an estimation of how well a particular individual can generate thrombin may correlate with either a risk of bleeding or thrombosis, we also include the existing methods to evaluate the potential of thrombin generation in an individual.

Introduction to Coagulation System

Coagulation involves the regulated sequence of proteolytic activation of a series of proteins to achieve appropriate and timely hemostasis in an injured vessel. In the non-pathological state, the inciting event involves exposure of circulating factor VIIa to extravascularly expressed tissue factor, which brings into motion the series of steps which results in cell based model of coagulation. In the new concepts of coagulation system, initiation, amplification and propagation steps are involved to converse of fibrinogen to fibrin. The precisely synchronized cascade of events is counter-balanced by a system of anticoagulant mechanisms. Developmental hemostasis refers to the age-related changes in the coagulation system that are most marked during neonate and childhood. An understanding of these changes in crucial to the accurate diagnosis of hemostatic abnormalities in neonate and children. This review aims to elucidate the main events within the coagulation cascade as it is currently understood to operate in vivo, and also a short review of the anticoagulants as they relate to this model. Also this paper describes the common pitfalls observed in the clinical data related to the coagulation system in neonate to children.