Abstract:
Thrombosis is one the major cause of death worldwide. Clinicians and haematologists are confronted more and more with diagnosis and management of patients with venous and arterial thrombo-embolic phenomenon. In the recent past there have been major
advancements in the field of the aetio-pathogenisis of haemostasis. Thrombosis occurs
when there is an imbalance between pro-thrombotic and anti-thrombotic mechanisms.
Thrombin activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is a potential target to treat various
thrombotic as well as metabolic disorders. TAFI is a Carboxypeptidase B like enzyme
with a mol. wt. 60 kDa and it is activated by thrombin-thrombomodulin complex to
activated form TAFIa which cleaves carboxyl-terminal lysine residues from partially
degraded fibrin, rendering it resistant to fibrinolysis by endogenous tissue plasminogen
activator (tPA). Thus inhibition of TAFI with an appropriate TAFI inhibitor will be an
attractive strategy for various thrombotic as well as metabolic disorders in which levels of
TAFI is highly elevated like deep vein thrombosis, angina pectoris, obesity and non
insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.