[Missing thrombinemia in the so-called hypercoagulability following physical exertion (proceedings)].

A common topic of discussion for many years has been whether stress induces hypercoagulability and/or hyperfibrinolysis. Ten healthy volunteers were subjected to strenuous physical effort on a bicycle ergometer. Blood samples were collected 10 min before and immediately after exercise. The well-known activation of blood coagulation was demonstrated by significant shortening of the activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin and reptilase times. However, no fibrinopeptide A (FPA) was generated, nor did the ethanol gelatin test turn positive. A significant shortening of the euglobulin lysis time was indicative of fibrinolysis but no fibrin(ogen) degradation products (FDP) could be detected. These results show that the so-called hypercoagulability is not accompanied by thrombin-mediated release of fibrinopeptide A, and suggest that the activation of coagulation does not involve fibrinogen to fibrin conversion.