The effect of suramin on laboratory tests of coagulation.

The antitrypanosomal drug suramin, which has recently been under investigation as a cancer chemotherapeutic agent, has previously been found to induce heparin-like anticoagulants in treated patients. In the currently reported work suramin is shown to have an additional anticoagulant activity that is due to direct effects of the drug on procoagulant proteins. The studies were conducted with pooled normal plasma treated in vitro with suramin and with plasma samples obtained from patients who had received the drug intravenously for 2 weeks. It is demonstrated that in plasma suramin inhibits factors V, VIII, IX, X, XI, and XII, while thrombin, prothrombin, and factor VII are unaffected. The inhibition of factor V is virtually irreversible, although the effect of suramin on the other factors is readily reversed by dilution.