Clot buster attached to red blood cells avoids complications
By Nathan Seppa
When a person is rushed to an emergency room with a heart attack or stroke, doctors often prescribe immediate infusions of tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA). The drug can dissolve clots blocking blood flow to the heart or brain. But because tPA indiscriminately attacks clots throughout the body, it can damage older clots that had repaired blood vessels. In those cases, it can cause internal bleeding.
Researchers now report that attaching tPA to red blood cells in mice and rats reduces this problem by concentrating the drug’s clot-busting efforts on newly formed, troublesome clots.