Question

An anticoagulant is
A. Heparin
B. Hirudin
C. EDTA
D. All of the above

Answer 1

Anticoagulant is the chemical substance that is commonly referred to as blood thinners and this is the substance that prevents or slows down the coagulation, where it causes the increase in bleeding time, and this anticoagulant is useful for various conditions.

Complete answer:
Blood has two factors to prevent it from bleeding that are platelets and coagulants, and both functions are to prevent clotting of blood, where one helps by platelet aggregation and the other by cascade mechanism.
-Heparin: It is the anticoagulant that is naturally occurring glycosaminoglycan, and it is used as medicine to prevent clots in various conditions.
Heparin is available in both fractionated and unfractionated forms, this does not prevent the already existing clots, instead, it prevents the natural formation of clots in the blood, and it is used in many heart conditions and the case of angina, where this heparin is given as injections either intravenously or under the skin.
This heparin is mainly used in deep venous thrombosis, and the side effect of heparin is thrombocytopenia.
-Hirudin: It is the peptide that is commonly seen in salivary glands of blood-sucking insects such as leeches and mosquitoes and this hirudin is anti-coagulant property, where it prevents the clotting of blood while these insects obtaining the blood from the host.
-EDTA: The full form is ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid, where it is used in blood banks to prevent the clotting of the blood, and this chemical prevents the clotting by chelating the calcium ions which are important for blood clotting cascade reactions.
So all three options are anticoagulants, hence the correct option is D.

Note: Anticoagulants are the chemical substances that prevent the clotting of blood by increasing the bleeding time, and there are so many anticoagulants that are naturally occurring and also synthesizing and form are naturally found in blood-sucking insects.