Humic substances shorten human plasma prothrombin time

The prothrombin time of the normal human pooled plasma was shortened by Aldrich humic acid well water humic substances and lignin at final concentrations ranging from 5 × 10^–3 mg mL^–1 to 5 × 10^–2 mg mL^–1, with a maxmum effect at 1 × 10^–2 mg mL^–1. At this concentration the shortening was 5.5 s, 4.4 s, and 3.5 s by Aldrich humic acid, well water humic substances and lignin respectively. However, monomeric components of humic acid such as syringic acid, protocatechuic acid, pyrogallol, vanillic acid, gallic acid, resorcinol, ferulic acid, catechol, caffeic acid and p-coumaric acid did not have such ability to shorten prothrombin time at the same final concentration ranges. Certain reducing agents such as t-butanol (2.5 × 10^– –2.0 × 10^–2 mg mL^–1), glutathione (8.0 × 10^–2–1 .0 mg mL^–1), ascorbic acid (4.2 × 10^–2–5.0 × 10^–1 mg mL^–1) and dithiothreitol (1.0 × 10^–2–1.7 × 10^–1mg mL^–1) could prevent the shortening effects of humic substances or lignin on prothrombin time. These results suggested that humic substances and lignin with a polymerised structure had an ability to affect activities of some blood coagulating enzymes.