the present invention fills this need by administering factor xiii to patients afflicted with platelet dysfunction , or thrombocytopenia where the thrombocytopenia is caused by metabolic disease , chemical agent or radiation . examples of conditions that can lead to failed platelet production are leukemia , aplastic anemia , paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria , alcohol induced thrombocytopenia , thrombocytopenia in megaloblastic anemias , human immunodeficiency virus ( hiv )- associated thrombocytopenia , idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura , and myelodysplastic syndromes . sequestration of platelets in enlarged spleens can also cause thrombocytopenia . this is can be caused by cirrhosis with congestive splenomegaly , myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia , and gaucher &# 39 ; s disease . pathologic destruction of platelets may also result in thrombocytopenia . this is very often caused by platelets being coated by antibodies and then being removed by mononuclear phagocytes induced by idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura , hiv - associated thrombocytopenia , drug induced thrombocytopenia and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia . platelet destruction can also be induced by thrombin - induced platelet damage as occurs in states with intravascular coagulation such as in complications of obstetrics , metastatic malignancy , septicemia and traumatic brain damage . platelet destruction can also be caused by acute vascular abnormalities as is often found in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura - hemolytic - uremic syndrome , thrombocytopenia in adult respiratory distress syndrome and severe infections with septicemia . thrombocytopenia can also be caused by such agents as quinidine , chemotherapy drugs , quinine , heparin , radiation , nonsteroid anti - inflammatory drugs ( nsaids ) such as aspirin , ibuprofen and naproxen . the method of the present invention provides symptomatic relief of the thrombocytopenia or platelet dysfunction by administering factor xiii . the administration of factor xiii can be applied prophylactically or at the time of a bleeding episode . factor xiii , also known as fibrin - stabilizing factor , circulates in the plasma at a concentration of 20 ? g / ml . the protein exists in plasma as a tetramer comprised of two a subunits and two b subunits . each subunit has a molecular weight of 83 , 000 da , and the complete protein has a molecular weight of approximately 330 , 000 da . factor xiii catalyzes the cross - linkage between the γ - glutamyl and ε - lysyl groups of different fibrin strands . the catalytic activity of factor xiii resides in the a subunits . the b subunits act as carriers for the a subunits in plasma factor xiii . recombinant factor xiii can be produced according to the process described in european patent no . 0 268 772 b1 . the level of factor xiii in the plasma can be increased by administering a factor xiii concentrate derived from human placenta called fibrogammin ® ( aventis corp .) or by administration of recombinant factor xiii . when recombinant factor xiii is used , only the ‘ a 2 ’ homodimer is generally administered without the ‘ b 2 ’ subunit . administration of factor xiii to a subject is generally done intravenously . when administering therapeutic proteins by injection , the administration may be by continuous infusion or by single or multiple boluses . a pharmaceutical composition comprising factor xiii can be formulated according to known methods to prepare pharmaceutically useful compositions , whereby the therapeutic proteins are combined in a mixture with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier . a composition is said to be a “ pharmaceutically acceptable carrier ” if its administration can be tolerated by a recipient patient . a suitable pharmaceutical composition of factor xiii will contain 1 mm edta , 10 mm glycine , 2 % sucrose in water . an alternative formulation will be a factor xiii composition containing 20 mm histidine , 3 % wt / volume sucrose , 2 mm glycine and 0 . 01 % wt / vol . polysorbate , ph 8 . the concentration of factor xiii should preferably be 1 - 10 mg / ml , more preferably about 5 mg / ml . other suitable carriers are well known to those in the art . see , for example , gennaro ( ed . ), remington &# 39 ; s pharmaceutical sciences , 19th edition ( mack publishing company 1995 ). factor xiii can be administered intravenously , intramuscularly or subcutaneously to treat platelet dysfunction or thrombocytopenia caused by metabolic disease , chemical agents or radiation . the levels of factor xiii in an individual can be determined by assays well known in the art such as the berichrom ® f xiii assay ( dade behring marburgh gmbh , marburg , germany ). the normal adult has an average of about 45 ml of plasma per kg of body weight . each liter of blood has 1000 units ( u ) of factor xiii . the amount of factor xiii administered should be enough to bring an individual &# 39 ; s level of factor xiii in the plasma to at least 100 % of normal plasma or preferably 1 - 5 % above normal . a dose of 0 . 45 u / kg would raise the level of factor xiii by about 1 % compared to normal . one unit of factor xiii is about 10 μg of recombinant factor xiii , which contains only the dimerized a subunit . thus , to raise the level of factor xiii by 1 %, one would administer about 4 . 5 μg of the a2 subunit per kilogram weight of the individual . so to raise the level 30 % of normal , one would administer 13 . 5 u / kg . for a 75 kg individual this would be about 1 , 012 . 5 u . some patients may have consumptive coagulopathies that involve factor xiii losses . in such cases , a higher dosing ( e . g ., 1 - 2 u / kg -%) or multiple dosing of factor xiii ( e . g ., 1 - 2 u / kg -%- day ) may be required .