Comparison of the Lipemia Clearing and Anticoagulant Activities of Heparin

Abstract

The 2 most important functions of heparin[long dash]i.e., to produce the lipemia-clearing factor and to prevent blood clotting[long dash]were compared on the basis of their physiological properties. The 2 functions and the cofactors involved in each were found to be different and independent. The affinity of heparin for dif-ferent chemical agents and cofactors were established as follows: protamine > clearing factor cosubstances>toluidine blue and neutral red>anticoagulant cofactor. The results indicate that if heparin is of primary physiological importance at all, its main function is to regulate lipoprotein metabolism rather than to influence blood clotting.