Current treatments to prevent blood clots with blood thinners are challenged by the risk of excessive bleeding. Now, researchers have designed a new compound called MPI 8 that reduces this risk in a mouse model.
Current blood thinners work by interrupting essential pathways involved in blood clotting but can work too well by causing no clotting and excess bleeding. Recent research has identified a molecule called polyP which accelerates blood clotting, without being directly involved in the coagulation pathway. Researchers designed a molecule called MPI 8 that can block polyP from working properly, which leads to effective clotting without the bleeding side effects. So far, MPI 8 has been tested in mice and found to be effective at preventing blood clots without toxicity or an increased risk of bleeding, though further research will be needed to confirm the safety and effectiveness of MPI 8 in humans.
The study was published in Nature Communications.