Recently, the depressor polypeptide, kinin, is recognized to play important roles under various physiological and pathological conditions. For the last 6 years, we have studied the role of the kallikreinkinin system from the clinical point of view and the following results have been obtaind. 1) The urinary kallikrein excretion was studied. In 58 patients with various diseases, estimated values were 23-600 Frey units per day. No significant difference was observed in kallikrein excretion between control and diseased subjects. 2) The excretion rate of urinary kinin was estimated in 71 persons. In normal group, the values ranged from 5.3 to 36 μg per day. These were no significant change in the kinin in urine from 32 patients with bronchial asthma, dermatological, neurological or pancreatic diseases in which kinin is generally considered to play an etiological role. 3) No correlation was demonstrated between the kinin level in circulating blood and the kinin excretion in urine from 6 patients. The kinin excretion was investigated in man during intravenous infusion of kallikrein or bradykinin, or in dogs during bradykinin infusion into renal artery. The excretion rates were not significantly increased during the infusions. From these experiments, it was concluded that the circulating blood kinin is not directly excreted in to the urine, and urinary kinin originates from the kidney. Accordingly, the excretion values of urinary kinin could not be taken as an index of plasma kinin. 4) Kininase activity in blood was estimated in 170 patients with various diseases. In healthy persons, kininase activities were 53-72%. Markedly high activities were observed in the patients with hyperthyroidism and in those with liver diseases. In patients with bronchial asthma, relatively low activities were found. No significant change in the activities were observed in remainder groups. 5) The kinin activity in blood was estimated in 63 patients with various disease. In 10 healthy persons, the kinin activity was not detected in all but one, who showed the value of 2 ng per ml. However, in some cases of bronchial asthma and dermatological diseases, blood kinin contents were definitly increased. In the patients of cardiovascular diseases including 8 arteriosclerotic patients, the activities remained in normal range. 6) In addition to the high plasma kinin activity and the low plasma kininase activity, the plasma kininogen content was decreased in asthmatic patients.
抄録全体を表示