Thromboplastin content in the vessel walls of different arteries and organs of rabbits.
Homogenized arterial walls of rabbits were shown to possess significant amounts of thromboplastin activity. The specific activity, percent activity per mg tissue, varied in different arteries. Thus the thromboplastin activity of the carotid was found to be about ten-fold higher compared to the femoral. Thromboplastin activity measurements of different organs revealed a very high level of thromboplastin in lung, whereas kidney and spleen had respectively 6 and 25 times less activity than the lung. Induction of generalized Shwartzman reaction by giving two doses of endotoxin 24 hours apart, caused no significant rise in thromboplastin activity of either arteries or organs, but induced a 35-fold increase of thromboplastin activity of circulating monocytes. The very high thromboplastin activity in the lung probably reflects the widespread and dense population of vessel in this particular organ. It is concluded that the amount of thromboplastin present in the vessel wall gives the possibility for a potent activation of the clotting system in normal haemostasis.
D000818:Animals; D001158:Arteries / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006487:Hemostasis; D007668:Kidney / Q000032:analysis; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008168:Lung / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits; D012790:Shwartzman Phenomenon / Q000378:metabolism*; D013154:Spleen / Q000032:analysis; D013925:Thromboplastin / Q000032:analysis*
D013925:Thromboplastin