Effects of Purified Hog Pancreatic Kallikrein on the Kinin-Prostaglandin System and Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System

In the present study, hog pancreatic kallikrein (HPK, 2,000 KU/kg body weight) was intramuscularly injected into male rabbits and several plasma hormones [kinin, prostaglandin E (PGE), 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (6-keto-PGF1 alpha), thromboxane B2 (TXB2), plasma renin activity (PRA), aldosterone, and ACTH] were measured before and after the HPK administration, in order to clarify the role of glandular kallikrein in the blood. The plasma kinin concentrations were significantly (p less than 0.001) increased from 1 +/- 1 (mean +/- SE), the baseline level, to 230 +/- 22, 288 +/- 36 and 130 +/- 9 pg/ml at 30, 60, and 120 min, respectively, after HPK administration. The plasma level of PGE were slightly increased after HPK administration, but the change was not significant compared to the mean baseline level. The plasma levels of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha were significantly increased from 229 +/- 38, the baseline level, to 594 +/- 131 (p less than 0.05) at 30 min after the administration of HPK and tended to increase (378 +/- 67) at 60 min after the HPK administration, but fell to 278 +/- 37 pg/ml at 120 min after the administration of HPK. On the other hand, the changes in plasma TXB2, aldosterone, ACTH, and PRA before and after HPK administration were not significant. The present results showed that exogenous intramuscular administration of HPK increased the plasma levels of kinin and prostacyclin, but caused no elevation in the plasma levels of other hormones including PRA. It is concluded, therefore, that in this acute experiment, there was a close relationship between the kallikrein-kinin system and prostaglandins.