On the Origin of Plasma Plasminogen Activator in Man
In the past, plasma plasminogen activators have been considered a wide group of dlssimiliar substances originating in plasma (the so-called “intrinsic” activators) and outside the vascular compartment (“extrinsic” activators). The “intrinsic” group appear to share the common property of being sensitive to complement Ci-lnactivator A series of simple experiments performed in our laboratories indicate however that these substances may not be quite so diaparate. We have measured “Intrinsic” and “extrinsic” plasminogen activators before and after exercise, a procedure known to elevate systemic levels. Activators were precipitated in the euglobulin fraction by diluting plasma L in 10 and acidifying to pH 5.9. The resuspended precipitate was tested on conventional and rapid fibrin plates using sodium flufenamate (an inhibitor of complement lnactivator) Co distinguish between the two “kinds” of activatorThe results showed a marked increase In “extrinsic” activator liberated by the vascular endothelium in response to exercise, the level of which quickly declined. By contrast theIntrinsic” activator fell immediately after exercise and then rose over the next 90 minutes. We suggest from these results that the two kinds of activator are more intimately related than was previously thought and that the disappearance of post-exercise “extrinsic” activator (formerly ascribed to inactivación by the liver) is due to conversion to the “intrinsic” form commonly assayed in “resting” plasma