Urinary tissue plasminogen activator in renal disease.
Whereas plasminogen activator of the tissue-type (t-PA) is present in extracts of kidney parenchyma, only small amounts of the enzyme can be detected in normal urine where the major plasminogen activator is of the urokinase-type (u-PA). These observations suggest the existence of physiological or anatomical barriers that effectively confine t-PA to renal tissue and exclude it from the urine. We examined the notion that disease might breach these barriers and so lead to the appearance of abnormal amounts of t-PA in the urine. Under the conditions of the simple fibrinolytic assay that we have developed, urine samples from 30 normal subjects did not contain detectable amounts of t-PA whereas we were able to demonstrate t-PA in samples from 43 of 65 patients with various forms of renal disease. When positive, therefore, tests for the presence of t-PA in human urine provide evidence for renal disease that may not otherwise be apparent.
Heussen-Schemmer
C
C
Research Unit for Human Cell Biology of the South African Medical Research Council.
Barron
J R
JR
Swanepoel
C R
CR
Dowdle
E B
EB
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D005342:Fibrinolysis; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005921:Glomerulonephritis / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000652:urine*
D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator