Two worlds, one goal : A Clinician’s Perspective on Laboratory Analyses in Anticoagulant Treatment

Abstract: Almost precisely a century ago, in the 1920s and 1930s, cattle bled to death in North America after being fed moldy hay containing sweet clover, the yellow Melilotus officinalis, and the white Melilotus albus. The toxic substance in the hay inhibiting blood coagulation was identified and named dicumarol. Further development resulted in warfarin, an oral anticoagulant that has been used for over 70 years and still is, even though newer direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are mainly replacing it. For some patients, warfarin is still the drug of choice. A safe warfarin treatment needs repeated blood sample analysis (PT-INR), and with the new DOACs come new laboratory challenges. The aim of this thesis was to investigate ways laboratory methods can contribute to improving oral anticoagulant treatment. Paper I explores genetic variants of the enzyme targeted by warfarin, VKORC1. The result shows that the haplotype VKORC1'2 is the most important of the VKORC1 haplotypes for warfarin dosage, with a lower dose requirement. The VKORC1'2 haplotype was also related to more unstable PT-INR levels. Paper II describes a cross-section study comparing warfarin treatment control, as PT-INRs within the intended therapeutic range, in primary health care centers (PHCCs) and specialized anticoagulation clinics (ACCs). Both settings showed good therapeutic control, with at least as good therapeutic control in the PHCCs as in the ACCs. Today, almost all warfarin treatment in our region is centralized to ACCs. Paper III focuses on the modification of a point-of-care PT method. A ratio of PT from two different dilutions of each patient sample was calculated and used as an indirect measure of DOAC activity. There were close correlations between the PT ratio and drug concentrations measured at the hospital laboratory. The detection level varies between DOACs and may limit its use in some situations. Paper IV evaluated the MRX PT DOAC, an assay based on the PT ratio principle. It was found to be able to detect potentially interfering DOAC levels in plasma samples. Confirmatory testing is recommended, as is sensitivity improvement for the detection of specific interferences.