Summary
Fibrinolytic parameters and von Willebrand factor (VWF) antigen were measured in 22
patients with glomerulonephritis (GN) who underwent renal biopsy after desmopressin
(DDAVP) infusion. Blood was collected immediately before and after DDAVP infusion,
after one week, and 3–6 months later. The main abnormalities on admission were the
following: the mean baseline levels of t-PA antigen and VWF were significantly higher
in GN patients than in 22 healthy controls; the median t-PA activity and the mean
scu-PA level were significantly lower than normal . The t-PA response to DDAVP was
impaired in 7 patients (32%), the response of VWF in 9 patients (41%), and the u-PA:
Ag response in 11 patients (50%). When the patients were stratified according to creatinine
clearance rate, significant differences between the subgroups with severely and moderately
impaired renal function were noted: the baseline levels of PAI activity and VWF were
higher in patients with severe renal failure and the VWF response to DDAVP was significantly
lower. The response of u-PA (not of t-PA or VWF) to DDAVP appeared to correlate with
urine flow during the first 24 h, suggesting the dependence of u-PA release on intact
nephrons. A series of 18 patients with adult-type polycystic kidney disease (APKD)
with creatinine clearance rates in the same abnormal range as the GN patients, had
lower mean PAI and a significantly higher mean scu-PA level. Normalization of scu-PA
and t-PA:Ag levels during follow-up despite impaired renal function in GN, and the
absence of depressed scu-PA levels in APKD suggest that the fibrinolytic abnormalities
are independent of the impaired renal function per se, but associated with the acute
stage of nephritis.
