title: Kallikrein-kinin in infection and cancer.
abstract: This review article describes the mechanism of enhancement of vascular permeability in infectious disease and cancer. This phenomenon is primarily mediated by bradykinin, nitric oxide and other unique vascular mediators. They are highly intermingled with each other in these disease states. Furthermore, these mediators are elicited in various in vivo settings most frequently induced by bacterial proteases, and indirect or direct activation of kallikrein-kinin cascade at one or more steps. The key steps involve bacterial proteases or cellular components including lipopolysaccharides. Thus, the use of appropriate protease inhibitors or antagonists, or scavengers in the case of nitric oxide, superoxide or peroxynitrite, are anticipated to attenuate the clinical manifestation induced by such mediators. It also explained that fluid accumulation in ascitic or pleural compartments in the case of carcinomatosis in terminal cancer patients can be largely attributed to bradykinin or related mechanism. Systemic bacterial dissemination is also facilitated by bradykinin, or suppressed by kinin antagonists as well as by the inhibition of kinin production, respectively. Thus, control of the level of such vascular mediators appears important both in infectious disease and in cancer. alpha1-Protease inhibitor, which inhibits neutrophil elastase, is inactivated by oxidative metabolites such as superoxide and peroxynitrite, and this effect activates matrix metalloproteinases. This indicates that oxidative stress activates proteolytic potential, and thus accelerates the degenerative process upon infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Honjo, Japan. msmaedah@gpo.kumamoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maruo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akaike
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000378:metabolism*; D002199:Capillary Permeability; D017364:Collagenases / Q000378:metabolism; D004792:Enzyme Precursors / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D016234:Kallikrein-Kinin System / Q000502:physiology*; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D009566:Nitrates / Q000494:pharmacology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000502:physiology; D000515:alpha 1-Antitrypsin / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D004792:Enzyme Precursors; D009566:Nitrates; D000515:alpha 1-Antitrypsin; C039642:peroxynitric acid; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D017364:Collagenases; D008666:Metalloendopeptidases; C022440:procollagenase