Detecting and distinguishing between plasminogen activators
AssigneeCornell Research Foundation, Inc.
InventorPeter C. Harpel
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Abstract
This invention relates to a method for determining fibrinolytic activation in human blood and to a method to distinguish between tissue (e.g. vascular) plasminogen activator and urokinase-like plasminogen activator contributions to fibrinolytic activation. Broadly, the method of the invention relates to detecting the level of plasmin-plasmin inhibitor complexes in blood plasma samples before and after clotting thereof; a greater increase in the complex level in the clotted sample as compared to non-clotted samples indicating the presence of circulating tissue plasminogen activator, with substantially identical levels of increase of complex in both the clotted and unclotted samples indicating the sole presence of urokinase-type plasminogen activator in the sample.
Claims9
A method of determining plasminogen activator induced fibrinolytic activity in human blood which comprises:
- (a) providing plasma samples from freshly drawn blood comprising a first sample which is unclotted and a second sample which has been clotted;
- (b) determining the level of plasmin-naturally occurring plasmin inhibitor complex in both the unclotted and clotted samples first proximate the time of establishment of the samples and again after a time delay sufficient to allow plasminogen activator present in the sample to convert a significant portion of the plasminogen present in the samples to plasmin;
- and
- (c) comparing the levels of the plasmin-naturally occurring plasmin inhibitor complex in both the unclotted and clotted plasma samples to identify tissue-type plasminogen activator or urokinase-type plasminogen activator contributions to fibrinolytic activity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.