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Fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 05.07.2025
Reference values (norm) for the concentration of PDP in blood plasma are less than 10 mg/l.
Fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products are formed in the body upon activation of the fibrinolysis system (interaction of plasmin with fibrinogen and fibrin), which develops in response to intravascular fibrin formation. Fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products have antithromboplastin, antithrombin and antipolymerase effects. Active plasmin causes sequential asymmetric cleavage of fibrinogen/fibrin. Initially, low-molecular fragments are cleaved from their a- and beta-chains. After their cleavage, large-molecular fragment X remains in the blood plasma, which still retains the ability to form fibrin (coagulate) under the influence of thrombin. Then, under the influence of plasmin, fragment X is cleaved into fragments Y and D, and fragment Y into fragments D and E.
The large molecular fragments of fibrinolysis (fragments X and Y) are called "early", and fragments D and E are called "late" or final. These fragments of fibrinogen and fibrin cleavage are called fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products.
In a healthy person, the concentration of fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products is extremely low. Detection of elevated fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products is an early diagnostic sign of DIC syndrome. Determination of fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products in blood plasma can be a diagnostic indicator of vascular occlusion, which is difficult to determine clinically. Their number increases in pulmonary thromboembolism, myocardial infarction, deep vein thrombosis, in the postoperative period, in pregnancy complications (placental abruption, eclampsia), in patients with various malignant neoplasms, leukemia, acute and chronic renal failure, extensive trauma, burns, shock, infectious diseases, sepsis, collagenoses, paraproteinemia, etc. Constant detection of fibrinogen/fibrin degradation products is of great importance in the diagnosis of the chronic form of DIC syndrome.
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