Nattokinase improves blood flow by inhibiting platelet aggregation and thrombus formation

Abstract

The effects of nattokinase on the in vitro platelet aggregation and in vivo thrombosis were investigated in comparison with aspirin. Rabbit platelet-rich plasma was incubated with nattokinase and aggregation inducers collagen and thrombin, and the platelet aggregation rate was analyzed. Nattokinase significantly inhibited both the collagen- and thrombin-induced platelet aggregations. Nattokinase also reduced thromboxane B2 formation from collagen-activated platelets in a concentration-dependent manner. Rats were orally administered with nattokinase for 1 week, and their carotid arteries were exposed. Arterial thrombosis was induced by applying 35% FeCl3-soaked filter paper for 10 min, and the blood flow was monitored with a laser Doppler probe. Nattokinase delayed the FeCl3-induced arterial occlusion in a dose-dependent manner, doubling the occlusion time at 160 mg/kg. In addition, a high dose (500 mg/kg) of nattokinase fully prevented the occlusion, as achieved with aspirin (30 mg/kg). The results indicate that nattokinase extracted from fermented soybean inhibit platelet aggregation by blocking thromboxane formation, and thereby delay thrombosis following oxidative arterial wall injury. Therefore, it is suggested that nattokinase could be a good candidate without adverse effects for the improvement of blood flow.

Nattokinase: An Oral Antithrombotic Agent for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

“…After treatment with NK, however, thrombus formation and platelet aggregation were inhibited. The effects of NK are similar to the well-known blood thinner, aspirin [13]. Unlike aspirin, which often triggers bleeding or gastric ulcers, NK improves blood flow without any adverse effects.…”

“…NK was reported to have an effect on both oxidative injury-mediated arterial thrombosis [12,13] and inflammation-induced venal thrombosis [14]. When ferric chloride (FeCl 3 ) was administered to the injured arteries, it resulted in oxidative thrombosis and platelet adhesion.…”

Timing of Heparin Administration Modulates Arterial Occlusive Thrombotic Response in Rats

“…The rat ferric chloride model has been used in a number of studies to evaluate thrombosis, particularly in the context of antithrombotic therapies. The controls (no therapy) in our study had an average TTO of~12 min; other studies using various parameters of ferric chloride concentration and time of application, as well as filter paper dimensions, have control TTO data from 7.8-8.7 min [19,20] to greater than 30 min [8,21,22], with many values between these times [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. We selected our particular ferric chloride induction parameters to provide a moderate injury so that heparin therapy might have an influence, as was determined to be the case.…”

Therapeutic potential of abalone and status of bioactive molecules: A comprehensive review

“…There is an ongoing need to find alternative anti-coagulants that can help to minimize or reduce these serious side effects. Thrombosis can be prevented and treated simply by inhibiting platelet aggregation since platelets play an important role in thrombus development (Jang et al, 2013). Li et al (2013) prepared different abalone extracts from viscera and muscles of H.discus hannai Ino; these extracts were prepared by using aqueous and ethanolic treatments as well as enzyme digestions.…”