Fragmin pharmacokinetics in human volunteers

Therapeutic Use of Low Molecular Weight Heparins: Knowledge to Date and Their Application to Therapy

“…Multiple randomized clinical trials 26,[28][29][30]49,52,53 have compared LMW heparin with unfractionated heparin for the initial treatment of patients with venous thrombosis. Many of these studies used repeat venography 5 to 7 days after commencing therapy as the outcome measure for assessing the antithrombotic effectiveness of the alternative regimens.…”

“…Many of these studies used repeat venography 5 to 7 days after commencing therapy as the outcome measure for assessing the antithrombotic effectiveness of the alternative regimens. Five studies 26,29,44,45,49 compared continuous intravenous LMW heparin with continuous intravenous unfractionated heparin; one trial 30 compared subcutaneous LMW heparin with subcutaneous unfractionated heparin; and four studies 28 ', 43,52,53 compared subcutaneous LMW heparin with continuous intravenous unfractionated heparin. The findings of these clinical trials are summarized as follows.…”

“…17 In recent years, low molecular weight (LMW) derivatives of commercial heparin have been prepared that have a mean molecular weight of 4000 to 5000 Da in contrast to unfractionated heparin, which has a mean molecular weight of 12,000 to 16,000 Da. 18,19 Pharmacokinetic studies [20][21][22][23][24][25][26] and recent small clinical trials in selected patients with venous thrombosis [27][28][29][30] indicate that the bioavailability of these LMW heparin fractions following subcutaneous injection is very high. For example, Bratt et al 22 reported that the bioavailability of LMW heparin after a subcutaneous injection of 120 FXa U/kg to healthy volunteers was approximately 90% of an equivalent intravenous dose.…”