Publications

Research outputs, reports, policy briefs and knowledge products from KIU scholars and partners.

2023 School of Allied Health Sciences EURASIAN EXPERIMENT JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH (EEJPH)

Protamine Sulphate: An Antidote for Bleeding caused by Heparin

Emmanuel Ifeanyi Obeagu; Okechukwu Paul-Chima Ugwu

Protamine is also used in the context of dialysis, invasive vascular procedures, and acute ischemic strokes to reversethe anticoagulation effects of unfractionated heparin. Protamine sulfate is a fairly strong basic protein that bindswith the strongly acidic heparin to create a stable and inactive complex (salt) when given as an antidote to heparin.It is a highly cationic peptide that forms a stable ion pair without any anticoagulant properties when it binds toeither heparin or low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). The positive cationic arginine peptide of protamine reactswith unfractionated heparin, a strongly anionic anticoagulant, to form a salt aggregate. The metabolism of theheparin-protamine salt aggregate is poorly understood