Antihemophilic factor levels in bleeder swine following infusions of plasma and serum

Abstract

Swine with a hemophilia-like disease characterized by a long bleeding time and low antihemophilic factor (AHF, factor VIII) level were infused with porcine plasma and porcine serum. Unlike the response of classical hemophiliacs, but similar to that of patients with von Willebrand's disease, the initial postinfusion levels of AHF were sustained with some fluctuation for 24 hr. Serum infusion resulted in a delayed increase in AHF which reached a maximum concentration between the 12th and 24th hr after infusion. Within 75 hr the effects of both the plasma and serum infusions had vanished. No correction of the prolonged bleeding times was observed following the infusions. The AHF levels encountered after the infusion of plasma and serum cannot be accounted for by the AHF activity contained in the infused materials; new AHF synthesis or AHF release from storage are suggested as possible mechanisms.

Von Willebrand Factor: Gene Dosage Relationships and Transfusion Response in Bleeder Swine—a New Bioassay

“…Previous work from this and other laboratories (4,5) has demonstrated that after transfusion of normal porcine plasma into bleeder swine there is a biphasic response in levels of factor VIII without correction of the bleeding time. For the first 6-hr post-transfusion, the levels of factor VIII are predictable on the basis of the amount of normal plasma infused, similar to the response in canine or human hemophiliacs.…”

“…Male and female pigs, both homozygous and heterozygous for the bleeder state, and weighing kg, were used. The bleeder swine used in the transfusion experiments had never been transfused previously or had had no transfusions in the previous 4 weeks.…”

“…The disease is identical in most respects with human von Willebrand's disease (vWD) and is characterized by a severe hemorrhagic diathesis, a prolonged saline bleeding time (2), reduced levels of plasma antihemophilic factor (factor VIII) (3), a marked elevation of plasma factor VIII following transfusions out of proportion to the amount of plasma or factor VIII administered (4,5), and impaired platelet adhesiveness (6). The disease is autosomal recessive in inheritance.…”

Comparative Biology: Animal Models of Human Hematologic Disease: A Review

“…Blood coagulation disorders have been described in dogs [89,131,132,133], horses [119,133], and swine [44,113] and have been studied in greatest detail in the dog. The most commonly recognized, canine hemophilia, resembles classical hemophilia A or factor VIII deficiency of man [64,89,133].…”

“…Further qualitative and quantitative comparative studies of the coagulation mechanism would be useful in assessing the relative contribution of each step in the normal sequence. In swine (Poland, China), a hemophilic disorder due to low levels of factor VIII [75,113], with the characteristics of von Willebrand's disease [44] and classical hemophilia A, has been observed. The disease exhibits a recessive mode of inheritance [19], and affected animals have a prolonged bleeding time and levels of factor VIII about 6 % of normal [26].…”