Clinical Studies of the Use of a Fluorogenic Substrate Assay Method for the Determination of Plasminogen

Utilization of a recently reported method for the determination of plasminogen by fluorometrit technique (Ref. 3, Pochron, et. al., Thrombosis Research, Vol. 13, pg. 733, 1978) was compared with acceptable methodologies (e.g. the caseinolvtic and radial-immunodiffusion assays). Excellent results were seen with the normal range of 2.4–3.8 CTA U/ml of plasminogen by the synthetic substrate assay as compared to 8.7-14.3 mg/dl by the radial immunodiffusion assay. Normal ranges for the caseinolvtic assay were seen to be 2.2-4.0 CTA U/ml. Patients’ studies were performed on a general medical population but centered primarily on “pre” and “post” operative coronarv-pulmonary bypass patients. In all cases studied, a drop in Plasminogen level was noted in this group of patients following surgery (20–50%). Other clinical data will be presented indicating that the determination of plasminogen by the fluorometric assay procedure is sensitive and accurate for clinical situations.