Procoagulant, anticoagulant and fibrinolytic activities in llama plasma

Abstract

The haemostatic profile of 46 healthy, adult female llamas was evaluated and compared to a human reference plasma. The results indicate that standard laboratory reagents and procedures are suitable for the determination of procoagulant, anticoagulant and fibrinolytic analytes in llama plasma. Human recombinant tissue factor is an effective reagent for the prothrombin time assay. With this reagent, llama plasma exhibited a clotting time similar to human reference plasma. The activated partial thromboplastin time results were shorter for llama plasma than for human plasma, and there was a significant (p<0.05) increase, in the order of tenfold, in factor VIII:C activity when human plasma was used as the reference standard. The activities of other procoagulant proteins, including factor VII, IX, X and Xl, were similar irrespective of whether llama or human reference standards were used.

The anticoagulant or inhibitory activity, as determined by the amounts of α2-macroglobulin and antithrombin, the fibrinolytic activity, as estimated from the levels of plasminogen and plasminogen activators, as well as fibrinogen values are consistent with those reported for other domestic species such as the horse.