Contaminant in Blood Thinner Identified
Research team led by MIT professor.
An international team of researchers has identified the contaminant
in a blood thinner called heparin that is thought to be responsible for the
deaths of dozens of Americans.
The contaminant, known as
oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS), could not be picked up using
traditional tests, as its structure is very similar to that of heparin. The
researchers found that OSCS causes two critical problems: low blood pressure
and anaphylactic reactions. Their findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine last
week.
From the NEJM:
This story is only available to subscribers.
Don’t settle for half the story.
Get paywall-free access to technology news for the here and now.
Subscribe now
Already a subscriber?
Sign in
You’ve read all your free stories.
MIT Technology Review provides an
intelligent and independent filter for the
flood of information about technology.
Subscribe now
Already a subscriber?
Sign in
In January 2008, health authorities
in the United States
beganreceiving reports of clusters of acute hypersensitivity
reactionsin patients undergoing dialysis that had been occurring
sinceNovember 2007. Symptoms included hypotension, facial swelling,tachycardia, urticaria, and nausea. Although initial investigationsfocused
on dialysis equipment, an investigation by the Centersfor Disease
Control and Prevention identified the receipt ofheparin sodium for
injection (1000 U per milliliter, in 10-mland 30-ml multidose
vials), manufactured by Baxter Healthcare,as a common feature of
the cases.1
This finding led Baxter Healthcareto recall, on January 17, 2008,
nine lots of heparin sodiumfor injection. As of April 13, 2008,
there were 81 reports ofdeath that involved at least one sign or
symptom of an allergicreaction or hypotension in patients receiving
heparin sinceJanuary 1, 2007.
Ram Sasisekharan, a professor of biological engineering
at MIT and the lead researcher on the project, says that the key to the team’s
approach was that it looked at heparin and the contaminant at a molecular
level. Strong teamwork, he notes, was also important to the project. “A number
of academic and industrial labs worked with me in close collaboration with the
FDA. It was only through cooperation that we were able to accomplish this task
of identifying the contaminant and assessing its biological activity in such a
rapid fashion.”
