Metabolism of Fibrinogen in Cirrhosis of the Liver

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Abstract

The metabolism of human fibrinogen labeled with radioactive iodine was studied in 50 patients with documented cirrhosis of the liver and in 35 healthy control subjects. Results in cirrhotic subjects were the following: plasma volume 47 ± 10 ml/kg; plasma fibrinogen concentration 250 ± 102 mg/100 ml; total plasma fibrinogen pool 118 ± 59 mg/kg, representing 0.73 ± 0.10 of the total body pool; fibrinogen half-life 2.99 ± 0.59 days; fractional catabolic rate 0.34 ± 0.09 of the plasma pool per day; absolute catabolic rate 39 ± 20 mg/kg per day; fractional transcapillary efflux rate 0.82 ± 0.30 of the plasma pool per day. Results in the control subjects were the following: plasma volume 42 ± 7 ml/kg; plasma fibrinogen concentration 284 ± 71 mg/100 ml; total plasma fibrinogen pool 119 ± 40 mg/kg, representing 0.72 ± 0.07 of the total body pool; fibrinogen half-life 4.14 ± 0.56 days; fractional catabolic rate 0.24 ± 0.04 of the plasma pool per day; absolute catabolic rate 28 ± 9 mg/kg per day; fractional transcapillary efflux rate 0.60 ± 0.26 of the plasma pool per day.

Authors

G. N. Tytgat, D. Collen, M. Verstraete