1969 Volume 97 Issue 2 Pages 113-118
In 2 cases of postoperative acute renal failure, abnormally high level of plasminogen, low fibrinolytic activity of euglobulin fraction and decreased urokinase excretion into urine were observed.
These changes may be explained by the following mechanisms:
(1) Tissue activator of plasminogen from the kidney (urokinase) enters into the circulation and also is excreted into urine in normal condition.
(2) The production of urokinase might be suppressed markedly under such a condition as acute renal failure. This would be the cause of lowered urokinase level in both blood and urine. The lowered level of plasminogen activator in blood may cause an accumulation of plasminogen, because continuous conversion of plasminogen to plasmin is disturbed.
From the above consideration, we have reached the conclusion that the kidney may play an important role as a regulator of circulating plasminogen.
