The Anticoagulant Effect of Bacterial Polysaccharides in Normal and Thrombocytopenic Plasma of Leukemia

Abstract

Abstract Bacterial polysaccharides from cultures of Friedländer’s bacillus and Serratia marcescens (Shear’s P-25) tend to prolong the coagulation time of diluted plasma in vitro. This activity appears to be parallel to, but limited with respect to, that of heparin. The anticoagulant effect of bacterial polysaccharide as well as that of heparin is likely to be enhanced in thrombocytopenic plasma of children with acute leukemia.