Objective: To investigate the changes of plasma fibrinolysis system and the effect of captopril in patients with high altitude pulmonary edema.
Methods: The plasma levels of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) were measured before and after treatment in the captopril-group (group A, 35 cases) and the routine-group (group B, 37 cases) of patients with HAPE, while 20 healthy volunteers served as the control (group C).
Results: The plasma level of tPA was (0.40 +/- 0.14) x 10(3) IU/L in group A vs (0.39 +/- 0.19) x 10(3) IU/L in group B before treatment, and (0.58 +/- 0.13) x 10(3) IU/L vs (0.49 +/- 0.16) x 10(3) IU/L after treatment, and (0.59 +/- 0.17) x 10(3) IU/L in group C. The differences were significant both before and after treatment between group A and group B (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). While PAI-1 was (6.6 +/- 1.8) x 10(3) AU/L in group A vs (6.6 +/- 1.6) x 10(3) AU/L in group B before treatment, and (4.9 +/- 1.5) x 10(3) AU/L vs (5.8 +/- 1.7) x 10(3) AU/L after treatment, and (4.9 +/- 1.3) x 10(3) AU/L in group C. The differences were significant both before and after treatment between group A and group B (P < 0.01, P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Patients with HAPE may present a disturbance of the fibrinolysis system, which could be reversed by captopril.