SummaryThrombomodulin, TM, is an endothelial cell membrane protein acting as a cofactor for the activation of plasma protein C. Soluble TM is present in plasma and urine of normal subjects. Enzyme immunoassay, EIA, for human TM was developed using mouse monoclonal antibodies against human placental TM in this paper. We obtained four types of the monoclonal antibodies against human placental TM. EIA sandwich method using three types of the monoclonal antibodies enabled us to measure almost all of 6 and 7 TM subspecies in plasma and urine, respectively, except 1 subspecies, 31 kDa TM. There was no interference from other components of plasma and urine in the assay conditions. Titration curves of purified TM in buffer or in normal plasma were linear within the range from 0.08 to 10 ng/ml. The coefficient of variation at 0.08 ng/ml TM was 4.7%. TM titer with buffer, assayed by this method, was reduced by the addition of thrombin at the final concentration of 20 U/ml, but the titer with plasma was not reduced even at 100 U/ml. These concentrations of thrombin are far larger than those which would be formed in circulation. TM levels in plasma and urine of normal subjects collected in the morning were 35.2 ± 8.32 ng/ml (n = 346) and 111 ± 31.6 ng/ml (n = 33), respectively. TM level in plasma did not differ from the level in serum. Circadian fluctuation of plasma TM was not significant in 10 normal adults, although a tendency of increase in TM excretion to urine was found rather in the day time than the other times. It was concluded that this EIA is reliable for TM assay in human plasma and urine, which will reflect activation or injury of endothelial cells.

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SummaryA nationwide survey has been performed in Japan involving 75 laboratories to assess the relative reliability of different methods of reporting prothrombin time results in anticoagulant control. The interchangeability of results using prothrombin time, prothrombin activity percentage, prothrombin ratio and international normalized ratios (INR) were compared with four different thromboplastin reagents and a range of coagulometers. A secondary batch of reference thromboplastin of human brain origin (BCT/454) was used to calibrate the local thromboplastins and for comparison of methods of reporting. The study revealed the closest agreement of the results between BCT and the other reagents, and the regression lines of these reagents were almost identical, when the results were reported as INR. Box-Whisker plot analysis showed that the distribution of the results was large with the more deficient plasmas with all methods of reporting. It was found by this analysis that the interchangeability of the results was greatest when the results were expressed by INR, because the mean values obtained of each plasma using different thromboplastin reagents gave the lowest CV and the frequency of the far-out data was least, compared with the other methods of expression. On the other hand, the type of coagulometer had almost as much effect as the thromboplastin reagent on the prothrombin time, even if INR was used. Interchangeability of INR would be further improved by providing ISI values for each reagent/ instrument combination.

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