Fondaparinux for Symptomatic Pulmonary Embolism
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《新英格兰医药杂志》
To the Editor: The summary of the article on fondaparinux for symptomatic pulmonary embolism in This Week in the Journal (Oct. 30 issue)1 shows the chemical structure of fondaparinux and refers to it as a pentasaccharide. Although it is true that fondaparinux has a pentasaccharide skeleton, its pharmacodynamic activity as a thrombin inhibitor is surely attributable to the eight sulfate groups that make it a polyanion, analogous to heparin. These sulfate groups are shown clearly in the figure accompanying the summary. It would be preferable to describe fondaparinux as a sulfated pentasaccharide or as a pentasaccharide polysulfate.
Alan F. Hofmann, M.D.
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093
References
This week in the Journal. N Engl J Med 2003;349:1689-1689.
Alan F. Hofmann, M.D.
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093
References
This week in the Journal. N Engl J Med 2003;349:1689-1689.