Evaluation of Argatroban as a Potential Anticoagulant for Clinical Laboratory Analysis: Precision, Stability and Interference Study.

BACKGROUND: Argatroban is a small, synthetic molecule which is a direct thrombin inhibitor and has been confirmed to be a potent anticoagulant in clinical treatments. However, only a few applications related to laboratory medicine have been reported. The purpose of this study was to understand the performance and value of argatroban as an anticoagulant for clinical laboratory analysis in a single test tube.

METHODS: We examined 93 blood samples and evaluated the anticoagulation time, precision, stability, and interference of argatroban in routine laboratory tests.

RESULTS: The anticoagulation time was associated positively with the concentration of argatroban. Chemical and hematological results for argatroban-treated samples were similar to those obtained with serum or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid treated specimens. Only the white blood cell count was decreased in the first 5 hours after blood collection and the difference was outside clinically acceptable limits; the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration was affected slightly by different concentrations of argatroban.

CONCLUSIONS: Argatroban is an attractive candidate for use as a laboratory anticoagulant that can be used for evaluation of chemical and hematological analytes in a single test tube in routine laboratory work.