Does qualitatively altered fibrinogen contribute to the increased heparin precipitable fraction (HPF) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI)?
The amount and protein composition of heparin precipitable fraction (HPF), and the plasma concentrations of fibrinogen, fibronectin, alpha 1-acid glycoprotein, alpha 1-antitrypsin, haptoglobin and C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined in healthy subjects as well as during the course of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In all samples tested, HPF consisted nearly exclusively of fibrinogen and fibronectin. In the small precipitates from healthy subjects, approximately equal amounts of these two proteins were recovered. During the first days of AMI, plasma fibrinogen increased 2-3 fold. At the same time, however, the amount of HPF increased 5-10 fold. This increase was associated with increased precipitation of fibrinogen, whereas no simultaneous increase in fibronectin was found. In fact, a slight drop in plasma as well as HPF-fibronectin was regularly observed during this period. During the following week HPF returned to normal values, whereas the plasma fibrinogen remained elevated
