February 23, 2014

Liu's New Synthetic Heparin Offers Safety and Other Advantages


*  UNC and Rensselaer scientists have created a synthetic form of low-molecular-weight heparin that is commonly used in surgeries to prevent blood clots.
*  The new heparin is cleared by the liver instead of by the kidneys.
*  The anticoagulant effects of this new heparin can be fully reversed with an existing drug should a patient experience bleeding,
*  The research team was led by Jian Liu, PhD, and Robert Lindhardt, PhD.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have created a synthetic form of low-molecular-weight heparin that can be reversed if things go wrong and would be safer for patients with poor kidney function.

“When doctors talk to me about the kind of heparin they want to use during and after surgery, they want it reversible, and they want it to not go through the kidneys,” says Jian Liu, PhD, one of the inventors of the new drug.