Rewriting Medical Textbooks: The Truth About Blood Clotting

Platelet spreading and clot contraction are separate processes, opening new possibilities for better treatments for clotting and bleeding disorders.

Blood clotting is a life-saving process, but too much or too little can be dangerous. A groundbreaking study now unveils a hidden secret—two distinct pathways control clot formation. This discovery could transform treatments for bleeding and clotting disorders!

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Study has identified a new metric for heart function that will help in predicting the future risk of blood clots and preventing it.

‘Did You Know?
Blood clotting follows two separate pathways, not one! #bloodclots #platelets #clottingdisorders #medicalresearch #safertreatments #medindia’

How Blood Clots Form

Platelets, which are microscopic cell fragments that circulate in the blood, reach the wound and spread out to prevent blood from spilling out when skin is cut or damaged. Red blood cells are trapped in a blood clot that forms when enough layers of platelets build up, resembling stacks of sandbags against a flood. The clot contracts when a blood vessel breaks, allowing blood to pass through the vessels more easily ().

Understanding Blood Clot Formation in COVID-19 Patients
Identifying the role of blood clotting factors in life-threatening clots formed in COVID-19 patients helps to develop a new therapeutic intervention.

Breakthrough Discovery

Researchers previously believed platelet spreading and clot contraction followed the same pathway. However, a study from Thomas Jefferson University found they are controlled by different signaling molecules. Blocking one process does not affect the other, opening new possibilities for treating bleeding and clotting disorders.

Formation Of Blood Clots Averted by Flavonoid Compound Found In Foods And Supplements, Proven
Rutin, a compound usually found in fruits and vegetables and sold over the counter as a dietary supplement, has demonstrated to inhibit the formation of blood clots in an animal model of thrombosis.

Future Implications & Next Steps

Dr. Naik highlights that this is the first evidence of two distinct clotting pathways. Targeting clot contraction without affecting platelet spreading could prevent excessive bleeding. This discovery may improve treatments for implanted devices and reduce side effects of current inhibitors. Next, researchers plan to test these pathways in genetically engineered mice.

Reference:

Blood clot contraction: Mechanisms, pathophysiology, and disease - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36760777/)

Source-Eurekalert

Causes of Blood Clots
Any condition that damages the inner lining of a blood vessel causes stagnation of blood or hypercoagulable states can lead to the formation of an abnormal blood clot.