Hypothermia and microvascular thrombus

Sustained hypothermia accelerates microvascular thrombus formation in mice

Nicole Lindenblatt,1,2 Michael D. Menger,3 Ernst Klar,2 and Brigitte Vollmar1
1) Department of Experimental Surgery and
2) Department of General Surgery, University of Rostock, Rostock; and 3Department of Clinical and Experimental Surgery, University of Saarland, Homburg-Saar, Germany

Cold is supposed to be associated with alterations in blood coagulation and a pronounced risk for thrombosis. We studied the effect of clinically encountered systemic hypothermia on microvascular thrombosis in vivo and in vitro. Ferric chloride-induced microvascular thrombus formation was analyzed in cremaster muscle preparations from hypothermic mice. Additionally, flow cytometry and Western blot analysis was used to evaluate the effect of hypothermia on platelet activation. To test whether preceding hypothermia predisposes for enhanced thrombosis, experiments were repeated after hypothermia and rewarming to 37°C. Control animals revealed complete occlusion of arterioles and venules after 742 ± 150 and 824 ± 172 s, respectively. Systemic hypothermia of 34°C accelerated thrombus formation in arterioles and venules (279 ± 120 and 376 ± 121 s; P <>

Keywords: hemodynamics; glycoproteins; microcirculation; platelets

Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 289: H2680-H2687, 2005.
© 2005 by the American Physiological Society.