Topic summary
Defibrinogenating agent
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Venombin A.
Applications
Venombin A enzymes are the sole representatives of the defibrinogenating agent class of drugs, which by its protease action removes fibrinogen from the circulation. They are thought to act as an antithrombotic by depletion of fibrinogen. They are different from thrombin in that they only cleave fibrinogen alpha chain (those do cleave both chains are called venombin AB), which will end up only producing weak, urea-soluble microthrombi that is easily removed by plasmin. Their benefit in acute ischaemic stroke is not supported by available evidence.