Summary
A fibrin slide technique has been utilized to study the effect of endotoxin on renal
cortical fibrinolytic activity in the rabbit. Lytic activity was absent in kidney
tissue obtained from animals given one injection of endotoxin and after development
of the generalized Shwartzman reaction. Cortical lytic activity was not inhibited
following in vitro incubation of tissue sections in phosphate-buffered saline solutions
containing high concentrations of endotoxin.
It is suggested that the initial injection of endotoxin may prepare for the generalized
Shwartzman reaction by depletion of cortical fibrinolytic activity. The failure of
endotoxin to inhibit tissue plasminogen activator in vitro suggests that endotoxin-induced
loss of lytic activity is mediated through humoral factors.