Abstract
Tissue factor (TF) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) have been used to induce the dis-seminated intravascular coagulation syndrome (DIC) in experimental animal models, but they have not been considered to be distinct entities to induce DIC in the experimental animals. We previously proposed that the pathological findings are different from animals to animals depending on the DIC-triggering substances used in the animal models. In this paper, we have studied the hemostatic parameters and histological findings that may discriminate the pathological conditions underlying the DIC in more detail at various time intervals, i. e., 0, 1, 3, 4 and 9 hours after the induction of DIC by these substances. Either TF or LPS was given to rats by continuous infusion over a period of 4 hours at 3.75U/kg for TF and 30mg/kg for LPS via the tail vein. Since the plasma levels of the thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT) were found to be elevated nearly equally reaching their maximal peaks 3∼4 hours after the infusion, the hemostatic system must have been activated at almost the same level in these two animal groups. The plasma level of D-dimer in the TF-induced DIC group initially increased markedly and then decreased rapidly, while an initial slight increase followed by a modest and continuous increase was noted in the LPS group. Markedly elevated PAI, severe organ failure and remarkable fibrin deposition appeared to be characteristic for the LPS group but not for the TF group. Since the pathophysiological findings were distinctly different between these two animal model groups, we hereby insist that the triggering substances must be carefully assessed as distinct entities to induce DIC in the experimental animals and to discuss their clinical implications.
