Lepirudin, a recombinant hirudin, is a direct irreversible thrombin inhibitor by binding to both free and clot-bound thrombin. It is approved for treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), which is a serious antibody-mediated drug reaction mostly associated with the use of unfractionated heparin. Lepirudin is an anticoagulant that functions as a direct thrombin inhibitor. Lepirudin is a recombinant hirudin derived from yeast cells. It is almost identical to hirudin extracted from Hirudo medicinalis. It differs by the substitution of leucine for isoleucine at the N-terminal end of the molecule and the absence of a sulfate group on the tyrosine at position 63. Lepirudin may be used as an anticoagulant when heparins (unfractionated or low-molecular-weight) are contraindicated because of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.
-O045.gif)