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The effect of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on the production of fibrinolytic inhibitor by human endothelial cells was determined because results of previous experiments have shown us that it is possible to stimulate this synthesis with muramyl dipeptide. Treatment of these cells with LPS resulted in a marked enhancement of fibrinolytic inhibitor, as estimated in a urokinase-induced fibrinolysis assay. A dose-response curve was obtained for LPS concentrations ranging from 10 to 1,000 ng/ml, thus demonstrating the great sensitivity of these cells. This inhibitor did not reduce plasmin activity and formed complexes with highand low-molecularweight urokinase as visualized by fibrin enzymography on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide electrophoretic gels. The molecular weight of this inhibitor was estimated to be 54 to 58 kilodaltons. These findings led us to conclude that LPS stimulates formation of a plasminogen antiactivator. This LPS effect could be suppressed by polymyxin B and colimycin. The stimulatory effect of muramyl dipeptide required doses which were at least 1,000 times greater than those of LPS and was not decreased by polymyxin B. These results show the possibility of independent modulation of plasminogen antiactivator production at the endothelial level, which could be important in endotoxemia. Under these conditions colimycin might have an additional advantage for clinical use because of its ability to prevent fibrinolytic inhibition.

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