Levels of tissue-type plasminogen activator and plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 in disseminated intravascular coagulation syndrome

Since disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) may directly reflect the abnormal regulation of the fibrinolytic system by endothelial cells, we have measured the levels of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), type 1 PA inhibitor (PAI-1) and t-PA . PAI-1 complex which is formed as a result of interaction on the two factors, in the plasma of patients with DIC (n = 51) and healthy controls (n = 42). Antigens of t-PA, PAI-1 and t-PA . PAI-1 complex were significantly increased in the DIC plasma (36.4 +/- 25.1, 106.8 +/- 54.7 and 46.6 +/- 34.5 ng/ml, respectively) compared with those in normal plasma (8.5 +/- 4.3, 54.4 +/- 21.2 and 8.6 +/- 3.5 ng/ml, respectively). The molar ratio of t-PA to PAI-1 was much higher in the DIC plasma (1:3) than in normal plasma (1:6), which caused enhancement of the whole fibrinolytic activity in the DIC plasma. These changes resulted in significant consumption of plasminogen, alpha 2-plasmin inhibitor (alpha 2-PI) and a significant increase of plasmin . alpha 2-PI complex (PPI) and D-dimer. These results suggest that t-PA and its specific inhibitor PAI-1 both of which are secreted from endothelial cells into blood, play an important role on the progress of DIC.