Decreased prothrombin conversion and reduced thrombin inactivation explain rebalanced thrombin generation in liver cirrhosis

Abstract

Impaired coagulation factor synthesis in cirrhosis causes a reduction of most pro- and anticoagulant factors. Cirrhosis patients show no clear bleeding or thrombotic phenotype, although they are at risk for both types of hemostatic event. Thrombin generation (TG) is a global coagulation test and its outcome depends on underlying pro- and anticoagulant processes (prothrombin conversion and thrombin inactivation). We quantified the prothrombin conversion and thrombin inactivation during TG in 30 healthy subjects and 52 Child-Pugh (CP-) A, 15 CP-B and 6 CP-C cirrhosis patients to test the hypothesis that coagulation is rebalanced in liver cirrhosis patients. Both prothrombin conversion and thrombin inactivation are reduced in cirrhosis patients. The effect on pro- and anticoagulant processes partially cancel each other out and as a result TG is comparable at 5 pM tissue factor between healthy subjects and patients. This supports the hypothesis of rebalanced hemostasis, as TG in cirrhosis patients remains within the normal range, despite large changes in prothrombin conversion and thrombin inactivation. Nevertheless, in silico analysis shows that normalization of either prothrombin conversion or thrombin inactivation to physiological levels, by for example the administration of prothrombin complex concentrates would cause an elevation of TG, whereas the normalization of both simultaneously maintains a balanced TG. Therefore, cirrhosis patients might require adapted hemostatic treatment.