What is the difference between low molecular weight heparin and unfractionated heparin?

Heparin is named after it was found earlier in the liver. As a natural anticoagulant substance, heparin exists in many organs of mammals, among which the content of lung and intestinal mucosa is relatively high. Heparin is a mucopolysaccharide sulfate composed of glucosamine, L-iduronic acid, N-acetylglucosamine and D-glucuronic acid alternately, with an average molecular weight of 15KD and strong acidity. At present, after years of development, heparin has developed low molecular weight heparin. Both unfractionated heparin and low molecular weight heparin are commonly used non-oral anticoagulant drugs in clinical practice, and are mainly used to prevent and treat thrombosis or embolic diseases. And in clinical practice, there are many people who are vague about unfractionated heparin and low molecular weight heparin, and we will understand the difference between them in this article.

1. The difference in source
Unfractionated heparin: Heparin, also known as unfractionated heparin, is a kind of dextran sulfate extracted from pig intestinal mucosa or bovine lung. Unfractionated heparin is a mixture with a molecular weight range of 3000-30000KD and an average molecular weight of about 15000KD.
Low-molecular-weight heparin: Low-molecular-weight heparin is a general term for a type of heparin with low molecular weight prepared by depolymerization of unfractionated heparin. Its pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic properties are different from those of unfractionated heparin. The average molecular weight range is 3000-8000KD.

2. The difference in function
Low-molecular-weight heparin: Low-molecular-weight heparin can be combined with antithrombin Ⅲ, resulting in structural changes of antithrombin Ⅲ, thereby accelerating the inhibitory effect on factor Xa, producing a strong anticoagulant effect, and helping to relieve and reduce coronary arteries Lumen obstruction improves myocardial ischemia. It is also difficult to eliminate in the body and has a long action time. It rarely affects platelet function, does not reduce its number, and has a strong effect of inactivating platelet surface coagulation factor Xa.
Unfractionated heparin: As an anticoagulant, heparin is a polymer formed by alternately connecting two kinds of polysaccharides. It has anticoagulant effects both in vivo and in vitro. Clinically, it is mainly used for thromboembolic diseases, myocardial infarction, cardiovascular surgery, cardiac catheterization, extracorporeal circulation, hemodialysis, etc. With the advancement of pharmacology and clinical medicine, the application of heparin continues to expand.

3. The difference in application
Unfractionated heparin:
Thrombosis or embolic disease;
Disseminated intravascular coagulation caused by various reasons;
It is also used for hemodialysis, extracorporeal circulation, catheterization, microvascular surgery and other operations and the anticoagulation treatment of certain blood samples or instruments.
Low molecular weight heparin:
Prevent venous thromboembolic diseases, especially deep vein thrombosis after orthopedic or general surgery;
Treatment of deep vein thrombosis that has formed;
For the treatment of non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction in the acute phase of unstable angina;
Prevents the formation of blood clots in the dialyzer during hemodialysis.

Although low molecular weight heparin is a derivative of unfractionated heparin, it cannot replace unfractionated heparin in some aspects. And in terms of price, the price of low-molecular heparin is much higher than that of unfractionated heparin, so unfractionated heparin has more priority in other fields, such as blood collection tube additives. Our company is a manufacturer specializing in the production of heparin sodium/lithium, an additive for blood collection tubes. Hubei Xindesheng Material Co., Ltd. is a professional manufacturer of blood collection tube additives. The company has been established for decades. Among them, the heparin series is our company's core product, which is used in the development and production of professional teams. If you are interested in understanding heparin, you can enter our official website to contact customer service for consultation. Hubei Xindesheng welcomes your visit.