dc.contributor.advisor | Mammen, Eberhard | |
dc.contributor.author | Judge, Damanjit K. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2011-08-15T17:52:20Z | |
dc.date.available | 2011-08-15T17:52:20Z | |
dc.date.issued | 1990 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10920/23178 | |
dc.description | vi, 32 p. | en_US |
dc.description.abstract | Vitamin K, which is synthesized in the liver, is vital in the blood coagulation system
because the activity of many protein (Factors II, IX,X, and Proteins C and S) in this system are
dependent on it. Most infants born to healthy, well nourished mothers will have an adequate store
of most vitamins at birth, with the exception of Vitamin K. It has been previously demonstrated
that many infants bleed excessively during the first week of life or experience other hemostatic
disorders. Many of these problems can be effectively treated with an injection or oral dose of
Vitamin K administered soon after birth. The characteristics and functions of these factors have
been widely described in normal adults but very little work has been done to determine the protein
levels in normal, healthy newborns. This study was designed to determine the normal reference
values of these proteins in the umbilical cord blood of full-term infants. Plasma samples were
obtained from 45 full-term infants and protein levels were determined by electroimmunoassay.
During the course of this study abnormal double-peaks, instead of the normal single peaks, were
occasionally encountered on the electrophoresis gels. Discovery of these peaks necessitated the
characterization of the proteins that constitute the second peak and the determination of when, why
and how often they occur. This study established the normal reference values of Vitamin K-dependent
proteins in full-term infants and found them to be significantly lower, as compared to
adults. Double-peaks occurred in 13% of the infants and occurred primarily in the plasma of
patients that had some clinical disorder. Yet, despite these results no definite correlation can be
made between double-peaks and a specific clinical disorder. Our results suggest that significantly
lower levels of Vitamin K-dependent, coagulation proteins in full-term infants, as compared to
adults, may be due to prematurity of the liver. Although the double-peaks were identified, we
were unable to fully characterize the macromolecule constituents. The macromolecule components
may be different charges on the same molecule, two species of the same molecule or a denatured
molecule. | en_US |
dc.description.sponsorship | Department of Blood Coagulation. Scott Hall of Basic Medical Sciences. Medical School. Wayne State University. Detroit, Michigan. | |
dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
dc.publisher | Kalamazoo College | en_US |
dc.relation.ispartof | Kalamazoo College Biology Senior Individualized Projects Collection | |
dc.relation.ispartofseries | Senior Individualized Projects. Biology; | |
dc.rights | U.S. copyright laws protect this material. Commercial use or distribution of this material is not permitted without prior written permission of the copyright holder. | |
dc.title | Determination of Vitamin D-Dependent Coagulation Proteins in the Umbilical Cord Blood of Full Term Infants | en_US |
dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
KCollege.Access.Contact | If you are not a current Kalamazoo College student, faculty, or staff member, email dspace@kzoo.edu to request access to this thesis. | |