Liquoid-induced disseminated intravascular coagulation in the blue fox.

The present experiments were performed to study the effects of a single high intravenous dose of Liquoid (10 mg/kg body weight) upon platelets, coagulation activities and hematocrit in blue foxes, and their correlation with the survival time. Both “short-living” (< 9 h) and “long-living” (24 h or more) blue foxes showed a marked consumption of coagulation factors, initial fall in fibrinogen, positive ethanol gel test and a gradual decrease in platelet counts. In addition “short-living” animals developed a marked rise in hematocrit, reflecting a considerable increase in vascular permeability. We conclude that activation of plasma proteases has as one of its effects increased permeability in microvasculatory vessels and that this may play a central role for the course and outcome of Liquoid-induced disseminated intravascular coagulation.