Background
The direct thrombin inhibitor dabigatran etexilate (DE) may constitute a future replacement of vitamin K antagonists for long-term anticoagulation. Whereas warfarin pre-treatment is associated with greater hematoma expansion following intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), it remains unclear what effect direct thrombin inhibitors would have. Using different experimental models of ICH, this study compared hematoma volume between DE treated mice, warfarin treated mice and controls.
Methods and Results
CD-1 mice were fed with DE or warfarin. Sham-treated mice served as controls. At the time point of ICH induction, DE mice revealed an increased activated partial thromboplastin time as compared to controls (46.1±5.0 vs. 18.0±1.5sec; p=0.022), whereas warfarin pre-treatment resulted in a prothrombin time prolongation (51.4±17.9 vs. 10.4±0.3sec; p<0.001). Twenty-four hours after collagenase-induced ICH formation, hematoma volume was 3.8±2.9μL in controls, 4.8±2.7μL in DE mice, and 14.5±11.8μL in warfarin mice (n=16; Welch's ANOVA between group differences p=0.007, post-hoc analysis with Dunnett's method: DE vs. controls, p=0.899; warfarin vs. controls, p<0.001; DE vs. warfarin, p=0.001). In addition, a model of laser-induced cerebral microhemorrhage was applied, and the distances which red blood cells and blood plasma were pushed into the brain were quantified. Warfarin mice showed enlarged red blood cell- and blood plasma diameters as compared to controls, but no difference was found between DE mice and controls.
Conclusions
In contrast to warfarin, pretreatment with DE did not increase hematoma volume in two different experimental models of ICH. In terms of safety, this observation may represent a potential advantage of anticoagulation with DE over warfarin.