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Fibrinogen is a soluble plasma protein which, after cleavage by the specific proteolytic enzyme thrombin, polymerizes to form the filamentous fibrin network during blood clotting (see refs 1 and 2 for reviews). Fibrinogen has a molecular weight of 340,000 and is composed of two identical halves, each containing three peptide chains designated A alpha, B beta and gamma. Fibrin monomers are produced by thrombin which releases the small negatively charged fibrinopeptides A and B. The overall shape of the fibrinogen molecule has not been unequivocally established. The trinodular, elongated (approximately 450 A long) structure proposed by Hall and Slayter is the most widely accepted model and it has obtained additional support from recent work. Fibrin monomers are also about 450 A long and in fibres they probably have a half-staggered arrangement along the axis. The fibres are an assembly of protofibrils whose structure and packing are not reliably known. We report here that highly oriented fibrin gels are formed when polymerization takes place slowly in a strong magnetic field. It is shown that the protofibrils pack into a three-dimensional crystalline lattice. We introduce magnetically induced birefringence as a potential tool for studying polymerization and briefly speculate on the applications of strong magnetic fields.

SummaryOne of the frequently proposed mechanisms for pregnancy losses refers to uteroplacental thrombosis. However the contribution of classical thrombotic risk factors remains questionable and, if real, does not account for a large number of pregnancy losses. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of circulating procoagulant microparticles, a new marker of cell activation already associated with various prothrombotic clinical settings. Microparticles were assessed by an original prothrombinase assay on platelet depleted plasma obtained from 74 women with a history of pregnancy loss without apparent cause and 50 controls. Patients were studied at least 2 months after the last obstetrical event and were classified into 2 groups: 49 women with at least 3 consecutive spontaneous abortions at or before the 10th postmenstrual week and 25 with at least one fetal death beyond the 10th postmenstrual week. Among the 74 patients, 41 had increased levels of circulating microparticles, 29 belonging to the group of early pregnancy loss (59%) and 12 to the group of late pregnancy loss (48%). The high prevalence of increased levels of procoagulant microparticles in both groups makes this new marker very promising for the understanding, follow up and therapeutical handling of pregnancy loss.

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