Therapeutic Use of Heparin beyond Anticoagulation

Heparin has been used as an anticoagulant for decades. Recently, attention has been drawn to the nonanticoagulant activities of heparin. Experimentally and clinically those non-anticoagulant properties of heparin inhibit inflammation and metastatic spread of tumor cells. On the molecular level, heparin inhibits the function, expression and/or synthesis of adhesion molecules, cytokines, angiogenic factors and complement. However, despite a...