Administration of warfarin to rats induced not only the well-known anticoagulant effect, but also an impairment of primary hemostasis as reflected by a significant prolongation of the "template" bleeding time. This effect was very closely associated with lowering of the prothrombin complex level and was reversed by administration of vitamin K. It is suggested that some of the clotting factors known to be vitamin Kdependent also play a role in primary hemostasis; alternatively, a putative vascular "bleeding factor" could be modulated by vitamin K availability. 0 1986 Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.We have previously shown that warfarin prevents thrombus formation in a vascular prosthesis model in rats (1). In the context of a larger study on the mechanism of warfarin's antithrombotic effect in rats, we observed that warfarin anticoagulation was accompanied by impairment of primary hemostasis as measured by the "template" bleeding time in the rat tail (2). This finding was somewhat unexpected, since the "template" bleeding time in rats is considered to reflect mainly the early steps of hemostatic plug formation involving blood platelets and the vascular wall function or tone (2). Indeed, in severe thrombocytopenia, some antiplatelet agents and vasodilators significantly prolonged the "template" bleeding time in rats (2). In contrast, heparin at full anticoagulant doses had no such effect (2).We report here experiments designed to provide a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the prolongation of "template" bleeding time in warfarin-treated rats.Material and Methods. CD-COBS male rats (Charles River, Calco, Italy) weighing 250-280 g, were treated with racemic warfarin (Coumadin, Endo Laboratories, Garden City, N.Y.). The drug was dissolved in isotonic saline and intravenously injected at three different doses (0.2-0.4 or 1 mg/kg body wt) to achieve different degrees of anticoagulation. Bleeding time was measured 2 to 24 hr later by applying an automated device ("template")(3) on the rat tail (9 cm from the tip) as previously described (2,4). The anticoagulant effect of warfarin was monitored immediately after bleeding time by the Thrombotest, adapted to native peripheral blood (Immuno S.p.A., Pisa, Italy). In a subsequent experiment Vitamin K1, dissolved in 6% Tween 80, was injected im 6 hr before the bleeding time test (1 mg/kg body wt vitamin K, 18 hr after 1 mg/ kg body wt warfarin).Results and Discussion. Warfarin treatment resulted within 24 hr in different levels of anticoagulation. The animals were subdivided into four groups according to their Thrombotest levels, as indicated in Fig. 1. A fifth group of rats (treated with isotonic saline) acted as a control.The bleeding times were longer than those in the control group (P < 0.01 at Duncan new multiple range test) in the two groups with Thrombotest levels below 20%. Bleeding times longer than 500 sec were found in all rats but one with a Thrombotest level below 10% ( X = 28.5 1, P < 0.Oc)l).We then addressed the issue of whether or...