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Original Article |
Correspondence to: Heiko Herwald, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Section for Molecular Pathogenesis, Lund University, P.O. Box 94, S-221 00 Lund, Sweden. Tel:46-46-2224488 Fax:46-46-157756
Vascular damage induced by trauma, inflammation, or infection results in an alteration of the endothelium from a nonactivated to a procoagulant, vasoconstrictive, and proinflammatory state, and can lead to life-threatening complications. Here we report that activation of the contact system by Salmonella leads to massive infiltration of red blood cells and fibrin deposition in the lungs of infected rats. These pulmonary lesions were prevented when the infected animals were treated with H-D-Pro-Phe-Arg-chloromethylketone, an inhibitor of coagulation factor XII and plasma kallikrein, suggesting that inhibition of contact system activation could be used therapeutically in severe infectious disease.
Key Words: bradykinin, factor XII, high molecular weight kininogen, plasma kallikrein, protease inhibitor
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