AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Vol 234, Issue 4 323-H329, Copyright © 1978 by American Physiological Society
Low-grade intravascular coagulation and reticuloendothelial function
J. E. Kaplan and T. M. Saba
The present study evaluated the influence of experimentally produced
intravascular coagulation on reticuloendothelial (RE) stability.
Intravascular coagulation was initiated by the intraperitoneal injection of
bovine thrombin (500 U/100 g body wt) into male rats. RE function was
evaluated by the vascular clearance of an 131I-labeled RE test colloid.
Thrombin injection resulted in a transient (0.5-2 h) (P less than .05)
depression of the phagocytic index (K) with maximal depression at 1 h
postthrombin challenge. The phagocytic index was unaltered after injection
of saline or heat-inactivated thrombin. Vascular clearance depression was
primarily due to a 37% decrease (P less than .001) in hepatic Kupffer cell
colloid clearance and was associated with increments in lung (82%) and
marrow (100%) colloid localization with no splenic alterations. While
intravascular coagulation was associated with decreased hepatic blood flow
at 30 min and 120 min, sinusoidal flow was normal during maximum RE
impairment at 60 min. The in vivo clearance depression was not reflected as
an intrinsic Kupffer cellular deficit when evaluated in an in vitro system.
The results indicate a transient RE dysfunction during intravascular
coagulation, the mechanism of which remains to be elucidated.
