Purpose: Low molecular weight(LMW) heparin shows stronger antifactor Xa(F-Xa) and weaker anti-thrombin(TH) activities compared with unfractionated(UF) heparin, and shows less bleeding tendency in the cases of clinical use. Platelet factor 4(Pf-4) and histidine-rich glycoprotein(HRG) neutralize heparin. We investigated on the heparin neutralizing effects of them to both kinds of heparinMaterials and methods: LMW heparin(Kabi and Pharmuka) and UF heparin(Novo) were used. Antithrombin III(AT-III), HRG(human origin ) and pf-4( bovine origin ) were purified by our methodsTH(Green-Cross) and F-Xa(Sigma) were used. Reaction mixtures for anti-TH or anti-F-Xa were as follows: 1 vol of AT-III( 0.1 U/ml)+
1 vol of heparin( 10 ug/ml)+l vol of pf-4 or HRG(varied)→incubated for 5 min→+l vol of TH(5 U/ml) or F-Xa( 7 nKat/ml)→incubated for 5 min→ + S-2238 or S-2222→ recorded at 405 nm.Results: (1) Pf-4 showed the equivalent anti-TH effect on both kinds of heparin, and 3 ug of pf-4 neutralized 1 ug of heparinOn F-Xa neutralizing effect, 13 ug of pf-4 neutralized 1 ug of UF heparin, but could not neutralize LMW heparin. (2) HRG showed the same results on anti-TH effect of both kinds of heparin, but could not neutralize the anti-F-Xa effect of LMW heparin on the same amount of HRG which neutralized that of UF heparin. Conclusion: Anti-F-Xa effect of. LMW heparin could not be easily neutralized by pf-4 or HRG compared with that of UF heparin.