Prothrombin Conversion Factor of Dicumarol Plasma.

Abstract

Evidence is presented that suggests the disappearance not only of prothrombin in dogs treated with dicumarol, but also of a factor important in the conversion of prothrombin to thrombin. Like prothrombin, this factor is associated with the plasma pseudoglobulins, but unlike prothrombin it is plentiful in serum. Addition of plasma, serum or serum pseudoglobulin corrects the delayed prothrombin convertibility of early dicu-marolization or of stored plasma. The discrepancy between the one-stage and 2-stage methods of estimating prothrombin seems to reside in this conversion factor.