Journal of Dental Research, Vol 66, 1199-1203, Copyright © 1987 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
Characterization of plasminogen activators in unstimulated and stimulated human whole saliva
S. Sindet-Pedersen, J. Gram and J. Jespersen
The fibrinolytic activity of saliva from healthy males was studied on
plasminogen-free and plasminogen-rich fibrin plates. A cell-bound
plasminogen activator in human unstimulated and stimulated whole saliva was
demonstrated. The assessed fibrinolytic activities could always be quenched
by incorporation into the fibrin plates of IgG antibodies raised against
human two-chain tissue-plasminogen activator (t-PA), while additional
experiments indicated the absence in normal human saliva of urokinase-like
and factor XII-dependent plasminogen activators as well as the absence of
inhibitors of fibrinolysis. Thus, t-PA is the only type of plasminogen
activator in normal human saliva. The present findings seem to support our
recent clinical observations of a decrease in the incidence of bleeding
complications and need for replacement therapy in hemophiliacs undergoing
oral surgery during local antifibrinolytic therapy with tranexamic acid.
Whether the findings might also be of importance in other pathological
conditions of the oral cavity, such as impaired wound healing, remains to
be elucidated.
