BLOOD-COAGULATION PROFILE OF THE ASIAN ELEPHANT (ELEPHAS-MAXIMUS)

The coagulation profile of seven Asian elephants was assessed using hu man reference plasma as a standard. The plasma values for the majority of the coagulation proteins evaluated, including Factors VII, IX, X, and XI, and antithrombin, were similar to that of human plasma. The av erage Factor VIII:C value was 1.95 units/ml, approximately twice that of the human value. Human recombinant tissue factor was effective as a n activator of the tissue factor-factor VII pathway as measured by the prothrombin time assay. The elephant plasma effectively corrected the clotting defect of human Factor XI-deficient plasma but failed to do so with bovine Factor XI-deficient plasma. However, elephant plasma Fa ctor XII was not readily activated by the commercial activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) reagent formulated with a soluble activato r, and consequently the activity of this protein could not be precisel y determined. The average (+/- SD) APTT result of 65.6 +/- 9.2 sec was twice as long as that of the human reference plasma. Despite the pres ence of relatively high levels of fibrinogen, 4.61 +/- 0.49 gm/l, no f ibrinolytic activity was detected in any of the elephant plasma sample s using a standard fibrin plate assay system. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc .