Fibrinolysis

Definition: Fibrinolysis

Fibrinolysis

Noun

1. A normal ongoing process that dissolves fibrin and results in the removal of small blood clots; "drugs causing fibrinolysis have been utilized therapeutically".

Specialty Definitions: Fibrinolysis

Domain	Definitions
Health	The natural enzymatic dissolution of fibrin. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Specialty Definition: Fibrinolysis

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Fibrinolysis occurs after coagulation, and is the process where a fibrin clot is broken down.

Physiological fibrinolysis

The main enzyme of fibrinolysis is plasmin. Plasmin cleaves fibrin in multiple locations and acts to dissolve a fibrin clot.

Plasmin is produced in an inactive form, plasminogen, in the liver. Although plasminogen cannot cleave fibrin, it still has an affinity for it, and is incorporated into the clot when it is formed.

Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is what converts plasminogen to plasmin. Thus allowing fibrinolysis to occur. This is released into the blood by the cells of the healthy endothelium neighbouring the clot.

tPA cleaves plasminogen, which starts fibrinolysis, though tPA is inhibited by other chemicals in the bloodstream. Alpha-2-antiplasmin, and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) serve to turn off tPA.

When plasmin breaks down fibrin, a number of soluble parts are produced. These are called fibrin degradation products (FDPs). FDPs compete with thrombin, and so slow down the conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin (slows down clot formation). This effect can be seen in the TCT or thrombin clotting time test, which is longer in a person who has recently undergone fibrinolysis.

FDPs, and a specific FDP, the D-dimer, can be measured using antibody-antigen technology. This is more specific than the TCT, and virtually confirms that fibrinolysis has occurred.

It is important to know if fibrinolysis has recently happened, as this can indicate deep vein thrombosis or a pulmonary embolism.

Treatment using fibrinolysis

Fibrinolytic drugs are given after a heart attack to dissolve the thrombus blocking the coronary artery.

The two main drugs that are used are:

Streptokinase - produced by alpha-haemolytic Streptococcus species. This is very effective and cheap, though since it is a bacterial product, the body will build up an immunity to it. For this reason, it is usually given only for a person's first heart attack.
Recombinant tPA - also very effective, but very expensive. It does not have the immune problems that streptokinase is associated with.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Fibrinolysis."

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Crosswords: Fibrinolysis

English words defined with "fibrinolysis": Activase ♦ plasminogen activator ♦ tissue plasminogen activator ♦ urokinase. (references)

Specialty definitions using "fibrinolysis": Anistreplase, antifibrinolytic, Antifibrinolytic Agents ♦ Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products. (references)

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Commercial Usage: Fibrinolysis

Domain	Title
Books	Fibrinolysis (reference) Fibrinolysis : current fundamental and clinical concepts (reference) Fibrinolysis and the Central Nervous System (reference) International Congress on Fibrinolysis, 6th, Lausanne, July 1982: Abstracts (reference) Plasminogen Activation in Fibrinolysis, in Tissue Remodeling, and in Development (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, V. 667) (reference) (more book examples)

Periodicals	Blood Coagulation & Fibrinolysis (reference) (more periodical examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Non-Fiction Usage: Fibrinolysis

Subject	Topic	Quote
Health		A number of factors that affect thrombotic function -- including hematocrit, fibrinogen, platelet function, and fibrinolysis -- are related to the risk of CVD. Regular endurance exercise lowers the risk related to these factors. (references)
		These include low HDL-C levels, an increased number of small dense LDL particles, an increased concentration of postprandial lipoproteins, and altered levels of coagulation factors that may either favor thrombosis or inhibit fibrinolysis. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

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Usage Frequency: Fibrinolysis

"Fibrinolysis" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Fibrinolysis" is used about 12 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	100%	12	101,599

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Fibrinolysis

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Expression	Frequency per Day
fibrinolysis	14
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translations: Fibrinolysis

Language		Translations for "fibrinolysis"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Danish		fibrinolyse. (various references)

Dutch		fibrinolyse. (various references)

Finnish		fibrinolyysi. (various references)

French		fibrinolyse. (various references)

German		Fibrinolyse. (various references)

Greek		ινωδόλυση. (various references)

Italian		fibrinolisi. (various references)

Pig Latin		ibrinolysisfay

Spanish		fibrinólisis. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Anagrams: Fibrinolysis

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "b-f-i-i-i-l-n-o-r-s-s-y"
	-4 letters: biolysis, fibroins, fibrosis, sirloins.
	-5 letters: bossily, fibrils, fibrins, fibroin, fission, florins, frisson, noisily, risibly, sirloin.
	Words containing the letters "b-f-i-i-i-l-n-o-r-s-s-y"
	+1 letter: fibrinolysins.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.