The search for new antithrombotic mechanisms and therapies that may spare hemostasis

Current antithrombotic drugs, including widely used antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants, are associated with significant bleeding risk. Emerging experimental evidence suggests that the molecular and cellular mechanisms of hemostasis and thrombosis can be separated, thereby increasing the possibility of new antithrombotic therapeutic targets with reduced bleeding risk. We review new coagulation and platelet targets and highlight the interaction between integrin alpha(M)beta(2) (Mac-1, CD11b/CD18) on leukocytes and GPIb alpha on platelets that seems to distinguish thrombosis from hemostasis.