Tissue kallikrein in severe acute pancreatitis in patients treated with high-dose intraperitoneal aprotinin.

The activation of the kallikrein-kinin system is thought to be one of the pathophysiologic mechanisms in acute pancreatitis. A radioimmunoassay for human urinary tissue kallikrein was developed and used to measure tissue kallikrein peritoneal exudate and plasma from 48 patients with severe acute pancreatitis. All patients were treated with intraperitoneal lavage. One group (n = 22) received high doses of the protease inhibitor aprotinin (aprotinin group), and the other group, saline (control group). Levels of kallistatin in peritoneal exudates and plasma were measured with an enzyme immunoassay. A large increase in tissue kallikrein was observed in the peritoneal exudate, which declined in both groups after multiple lavages. Complexing of liberated tissue kallikrein with kallistatin was evidenced by gel filtration in both peritoneal exudates and plasma in both groups. The decrease in kallistatin observed in both peritoneal exudate and plasma is therefore regarded as being due not only to repeated lavage, but also to true consumption of the binding protein. Some of the liberated tissue kallikrein in the peritoneal fluid and plasma was complexed to aprotinin. In the control group, six patients were operated on because of pancreatic necrosis, compared with none in the aprotinin group. The levels of tissue kallikrein in the lavage fluid were lower in the control group, but this was the result of the very low tissue kallikrein values in the six patients operated on for pancreatic necrosis. Levels of kallistatin in plasma and peritoneal exudate in these six patients were lower on the day of admission compared with the other patients, and the plasma levels continued to be lower during the first week. Large amounts of tissue kallikrein were found to be released into the peritoneal exudates in acute pancreatitis. Lavages effectively cleared the released tissue kallikrein. The tissue kallikrein was complexed to kallistatin, whereas in the aprotinin group, also to aprotinin both in plasma and in peritoneal fluid. The partitioning of kallikrein between the two inhibitors was the result of the interaction between enzyme and inhibitors and the turnover of the complexes formed. The low admission levels of kallistatin in the six patients operated on because of pancreatic necrosis suggest that kallistatin may act as an early marker of severity in acute pancreatitis.

Peritoneal lavage with aprotinin in patients with severe acute pancreatitis. Effects on plasma and peritoneal levels of trypsin and leukocyte proteases and their major inhibitors.

CONCLUSION: Although high-dose aprotinin given intraperitoneally to patients with severe acute pancreatitis seems to inhibit activated trypsin in the peritoneal cavity, the treatment has little effect on the balance between proteases and antiproteases. Plasma levels of leukocyte proteases were high in all the patients, indicating leukocyte activation to be an important feature of the pathophysiology of severe acute pancreatitis. A surprise finding was that the patients had higher peritoneal levels of pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor (PSTI) after the lavage procedure. BACKGROUND: Although most studies have shown protease inhibitor therapy to have little or no effect on acute pancreatitis, in an earlier study we found that very high doses of the protease inhibitor aprotinin given intraperitoneally to patients with severe acute pancreatitis seemed to reduce the need of surgical treatment for pancreatic necrosis. In the present study we have further analyzed plasma and peritoneal samples from the same patients to ascertain whether the aprotinin treatment affects the balance between proteases and endogenous antiproteases. METHODS: In a prospective double-blind randomized multicenter trial, 48 patients with severe acute pancreatitis were treated with intraperitoneal lavage. One group (aprotinin group, n = 22) was also treated with high doses (20 million KIU given over 30 h) of aprotinin intraperitoneally. The remaining 26 patients made up the control group. The protease-antiprotease balance was studied by measuring immunoreactive anionic trypsin (irAT), cationic trypsin (irCT), complexes between cationic trypsin and alpha 1-protease inhibitor (irCT-alpha 1 PI), leukocyte elastase and neutrophil proteinase 4 (NP4), as well as the endogenous protease inhibitors, pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor (PSTI), alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha 2M), alpha 1-protease inhibitor (alpha 1 PI), antichymotrypsin (ACHY), and secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI). Intraperitoneal levels were studied before and after the lavage procedure, and plasma levels were followed for 21 d. RESULTS: The control group had lower plasma levels of SLPI and analysis of peritoneal fluid showed the reduction of irCT-alpha 1 PI to be more pronounced in the aprotinin group. None of the other variables measured differed significantly between the two groups. All patients had very high levels of leukocyte elastase and NP4 both in peritoneal exudate and in plasma. Peritoneal levels of PSTI were higher after the lavage procedure in contrast to the other measured variables that all showed lower peritoneal levels after the lavage.

Effects of high-dose intraperitoneal aprotinin treatment on complement activation and acute phase response in acute severe pancreatitis.

Forty-eight patients with severe acute pancreatitis were treated with intraperitoneal lavage in a double-blind randomized multi-center trial. One group (aprotinin group, n = 22) was also treated intraperitoneally with high doses of the protease inhibitor aprotinin. In the group not treated with aprotinin (control group), 6 patients were operated on because of pancreatic necrosis, compared with none in the treated group. Complement activation and the acute phase response were studied with measurements of anaphylatoxin C3a, C1 inhibitor (C1 Inh), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and C-reactive protein (CRP). The control group had higher plasma levels of C3a and lower levels of C1 Inh compared with the aprotinin group. The differences were statistically significant for C3a but not for C1 Inh. Both groups had high plasma levels of IL-6 and CRP. There were no differences between the groups in CRP levels, but the control group had higher IL-6 levels (not statistically significant) than the aprotinin group. This was caused by very high levels in the 6 patients operated on because of pancreatic necrosis, indicating that IL-6 could be a good plasma marker of pancreatic necrosis. The results also show that massive antiprotease treatment reduces complement activation, as illustrated by the lower C3a levels in the aprotinin group. The lower C1 Inh levels in the control group could have been caused by an increased consumption of the inhibitor.

High-dose intraperitoneal aprotinin treatment of acute severe pancreatitis: a double-blind randomized multi-center trial.

A multi-center double-blind trial was performed on 48 patients with severe acute pancreatitis. All patients were treated with intraperitoneal lavage. One group (n = 22) was also treated with high doses of the protease inhibitor, aprotinin (Trasylol; Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany) administered intraperitoneally. Eight patients died, giving a total mortality of 16.6%. No difference was observed between the two groups. Altogether, 12 patients were operated on, corresponding to 25%. In the group not treated with aprotinin, 6 patients were operated on because of pancreatic necrosis, compared with none in the treated group. The difference was statistically significant. There were no significant differences between the two groups with regard to organ failure or other complications. It was concluded that aprotinin counteracts the development of pancreatic necrosis when given intraperitoneally in high doses to patients with severe acute pancreatitis, thus reducing the need for surgical intervention in these patients.

Levels of leukocyte proteases in plasma and peritoneal exudate in severe, acute pancreatitis.

Levels of leukocyte elastase and neutrophil protease 4 (NP4(3)) in plasma and peritoneal exudate were studied in 25 patients with severe, acute pancreatitis. Pancreatitis was diagnosed from the clinical picture and an increased serum amylase level. The diagnosis was verified by computerized tomography, ultrasound, and findings at operation or autopsy. Peritoneal exudate on admission contained high concentrations of leukocyte elastase (6100 +/- 2000 micrograms/l) and NP4(3) (2310 +/- 900 micrograms/l). High initial levels were found also in plasma, which contained 659 +/- 110 micrograms/l of leukocyte elastase and 254 +/- 33 micrograms/l of NP4(3). The levels in plasma were still increased 3 weeks after the acute attack, also in the absence of complications, indicating that the resolution of acute pancreatitis is a protracted process. Plasma levels of both leukocyte proteases were persistently increased in patients with pancreatic abscess, in contrast to the gradual decrease seen in patients with a pseudocyst or uncomplicated recovery. The levels were increased already before the abscess was diagnosed clinically, which indicates that determinations of leukocyte elastase and NP4(3) may be helpful in detecting this complication. A pathophysiologic role for leukocyte proteases in the development of severe, acute pancreatitis should be considered.

Alpha-2-macroglobulin decreases parallel to albumin and haemoglobin after elective surgery.

Plasma levels of the plasma protease inhibitor alpha-2-macroglobulin (alpha 2-M) were followed for 7 days in 90 patients subjected to various surgical procedures. Alpha 2-M was found to decrease strictly in parallel with the decrease seen for haemoglobin and albumin levels in all patients. Changes were most pronounced after extensive operations; total hip replacement (n = 7), pulmonary resection (n = 11), extensive colo-rectal resection (n = 15), and less pronounced after 'minor' operations; mastectomy (n = 23) proximal gastric vagotomy (n = 5) and moderate colo-rectal resection (n = 29). Levels were lowest on the second to third postoperative day, whereafter they slowly returned to normal, preoperative levels during the 7-day study period. Functional and quantitative alpha 2-M levels almost paralleled each other throughout the 7 days studied. Chromogenic peptide substrate assays indicated circulating plasmin-alpha 2-M complexes, while no protease-alpha 2-M complexes could be demonstrated using sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) or isoelectric focusing (IEF) analyses. Local accumulation and consumption of proteins within wounded tissues, together with haemodilution, were probably the major factors responsible for the decreased plasma levels seen. It is concluded that the plasma levels of alpha 2-M decrease after major elective surgery strictly in parallel with the decrease seen in haemoglobin and albumin levels, and that circulating plasmin-alpha 2-M complexes are probable. The decrease seems to be graded, that is, proportional to the extent of the operative trauma, similar to the postoperative increase seen in positive acute-phase proteins. Thus, alpha 2-M cannot be used as an internal, unchanged plasma protein standard for other protein changes seen after trauma.

Pharmacokinetics of terlipressin after single i.v. doses to healthy volunteers.

The pharmacokinetics of triglycyl-lysine-vasopressin (TGLVP) were studied in healthy male volunteers after single i.v. injections of 5, 10 and 20 micrograms/kg b. wt. The half-life of distribution and elimination was 8 and 50 min, respectively. The volume of distribution was 0.7 l/kg b.wt. and the plasma clearance 9 ml/kg b.wt./min. These values are different from those for arginine-vasopressin and lysine-vasopressin (LVP) but confirm to some extent earlier results on TGLVP. No dose-dependent changes of the pharmacokinetics of TGLVP were evident. The LVP formation after TGLVP is described in principle using a combination of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data. Therapeutically the results in this study suggest a 4-hour interval between injections.

Hospitals can cut materials costs by managing supply pipeline.

Materials management costs are affected by all the members of the supply pipeline--the manufacturer, the distributor, and the hospital. Hospitals need to develop closer relationships with distributors. By reducing the number of distributors it deals with and by shifting part of its inventory to a principal vendor, the hospital can reduce its inventory and cut materials management costs.

Kinetic properties of monoclonal insulin antibodies.

We investigated four insulin-specific hybridoma antibodies with respect to their kinetic properties as well as the binding behaviour of some combinations of them. From equilibrium binding data all but one antibodies were shown to bear homogeneous binding sites. They revealed homogeneity of binding sites also by kinetic experiments, thus with high probability being monoclonal. At 0 degree C, two of them showed discrepancies between kinetic and steady state binding data in as much as, at steady state, the measured bound-to-free ratio of tracer insulin was 3-4 times lower than calculated from kinetic data. Thus a simple bimolecular reaction mechanism could possibly not be applicable. Mixing two monoclonal insulin antibodies, neither cooperative nor additive binding to the insulin molecule could be observed but only competitive effects. Especially, no positive cooperativity between two or more antibodies could be detected, which would be able to account for the higher affinity usually observed for polyclonal vs. monoclonal antibodies.

[Acute Hedolite poisoning in humans]. / Uber eine akute Hedolit-Intoxikation beim Menschen.

Severe intoxication was contracted by an agrochemist who had handled Dintro-O-kresol (DNOC) over several days. The symptoms are described in this paper. The half-life calculated from the blood level course amounte to 148 hours. The particular case of intoxication is evaluated, and reference is made to literature, before the reader's attention is drawn to certain major and crucial aspects that should be duly considered in any use of DNOC, such as limitation of exposure, blood level monitoring, and availability of adequate safety clothing.