Drug to bust DVT time bomb

THE ticking time bomb of deep vein thrombosis on longhaul flights may have been disarmed by Melbourne scientists.

Researchers from Melbourne’s Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute have developed a drug with the potential to prevent clots not only for travellers but those at risk of, or during, a heart attack or stroke.

In partnership with Harvard University, the Melbourne researchers have shown blood clots can be avoided by using small doses of a peptide that can cling to high-risk areas, preventing dangerous damage.

Baker Institute researcher Prof Xiaowei Wang said the drug could be given in small doses to prevent clots forming, potentially making it safer than current blood-thinning and clot-busting medications, which carry a danger of bleeding.

“We have the potential to not only treat people who are having heart attack, stroke or deep vein thrombosis, but also to protect the patients who are at a very high risk of these events before they occur,” Prof Wang said.

“You could take it before you fly and hopefully it reduces your risk of getting a deep vein thrombosis.”

An Australian dies every 12 minutes from cardiovascular disease, with more than 480,000 hospitalised annually.

Current blood-thinning drugs can prevent thrombosis or blood clots, which causes one in four deaths around the world through events such as heart attacks and strokes.

But serious side-effects of bleeding mean they are used cautiously.

The Baker and Harvard drug has been genetically engineered to be attracted to platelets, which form at the site of a clot, without any effect on the rest of a person’s blood.

Results of a preclinical trial published in the journal Clinical Investigation show the antibodies clung to high risk areas and stopped clots forming, raising hopes of a safe preventive medication against DVTs.