Effects of heparin and epsilon-aminocaproic acid in dogs on plasmin-125-I generation in response to urokinase injections and venous injury.

The isotopic method described previously for quantification of plasmin- (125)I by disc gel electrophoresis was modified by inclusion of euglobulin precipitation to expand its applicability to plasmas containing low radioactivity of plasmin- (125)I and plasminogen- (125)I. It was found that the euglobulin precipitation method precipitates 72.4+/-2.1 (sd)% of both plasmin- (125)I and plasminogen- (125)I. Using this method and plasminogen- (125)I as a tracer, studies were first made of the effects of heparin and epsilon-aminocaproic acid in dogs on plasmin- (125)I generation in responese to a single injection of urokinase and to venous injury; second, of the effects of venous occlusion and thrombosis on plasmin- (125)I generation; and third, in vitro studies of plasminogen- (125)I affinity to fibrin and its activation in blood clots. The venous injury was produced by the damage of venous endothelium by an injection of 90% phenol and the thrombosis by a thrombin injection into an occluded vein. Heparin and epsilon-aminocaproic acid under the present experimental conditions inhibited about 78 and 100%, respectively of plasmin- (125)I generation by the urokinase injection. Similar inhibitory effects of heparin and epsilon-aminocaproic acid were observed on plasmin- (125)I generation in response to venous injury. The venous occlusion caused a small degree of plasmin- (125)I generation, but thrombin thrombosis did not seem to stimulate the generation of plasmin- (125)I. The in vitro studies showed that plasminogen- (125)I does not have a specific affinity to fibrin and is incorporated into blood clots in approximately equal concentrations as those in serum during clotting processes, and that blood clots per se do not stimulate plasmin- (125)I generation. These results suggest that injured veins release considerable amounts of vascular plasminogen activators into circulation and that these play an important role in thrombus dissolution in vivo.