Assays for Hypercoagulability

Many investigators have attempted to determine whether a relationship exists between excessive activity of the hemostatic mechanism and the atherosclerotic process. A major difficulty encountered in unraveling this puzzle has been the lack of reliable techniques for quantifying pertinent changes in blood coagulability. We have focused our attention on detecting alterations in the zymogens and protease inhibitors of the coagulation system which might occur prior to the development of overt thrombotic phenomena. Measurement of these early changes may be critical, if we wish to dissect the molecular events which are ultimately responsible for the atherosclerotic lesion and intervene with appropriate therapy prior to the onset of gross pathologic changes. In the sections below, we outline the difficulties associated with developing this methodology. Furthermore, we describe two new radioimmunoassays that may serve as prototype techniques for monitoring the activity of the hemostatic mechanism.