Blood coagulation & fibrinolysis : an international journal in haemostasis and thrombosis
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Blood Coagul. Fibrinolysis · Sep 1999
Prednisolone inhibits endotoxin-induced disseminated intravascular coagulation and improves mortality in rats: importance of inflammatory cytokine suppression.
In order to determine whether prednisolone has a protective effect against the development of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), we measured the effect of prednisolone on changes in hemostatic parameters and plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines in endotoxin-treated rats. Decreases in platelet count and fibrinogen levels, prolongation of prothrombin time, and increases in the plasma fibrin degradation products and levels of thrombin-antithrombin III (TAT) complex following the administration of endotoxin, all of which are associated with DIC, were significantly suppressed by the administration of prednisolone. Heparin administration significantly suppressed changes in all these parameters except for the decrease in platelet count. ⋯ Prednisolone was more effective than heparin in reducing mortality at 24 h after 100 mg/kg over 4 h of endotoxin infusion (four of 20 versus 15 of 20 deaths for prednisolone and heparin, respectively). These findings suggest that prednisolone inhibits the development of endotoxin-induced DIC and reduces mortality by a different mechanism than heparin, possibly through suppressing the production of inflammatory cytokines. Prednisolone may be efficacious in preventing DIC and multiple organ dysfunction caused by endotoxin.