During incubation of plasma in the cold an amidolytic activity due to the kallikrein-α2-macroglobulin complex appears in the plasma of about 40% of the women under hormonal contraception. The factor XII and prekallikrein activity are significantly increased 151.9% and 112.4% respectively in the cold promoted activation positive plasmas (CPA pos) whereas the activity of C1-inhibitor is decreased, 76%. The quotient of the product of the C1-inhibitor and α2-macroglobulin values divided by the product of the FXII and prekallikrein values is significantly lower in the CPA pos plasma 0.49 than in CPA neg plasma 0.96 (p <0.05). These results alone do not explain the cold promoted activation, since a patient with a C1-inhibitor as low as 9% showed no increase of the amidolytic activity after a 24 hr incubation at 4° C. However, the addition of purified C1-inhibitor to a CPA pos. plasma inhibits the cold activation. Heparin at a concentration of 0.5 IU/ml delays the appearance of the amidolytic activity.
Keywords
Cold activation - Prekallikrein - C
1-inhibitor - Factor XII - α
2-macroglobulin
