Turnover of fibrinogen, plasminogen, and prothrombin during exercise in man

Abstract

The turnover of biologically intact high-purity 125I- and 131I-labeled fibrinogen, plasminogen and/or prothrombin was studied in 16 untrained healthy subjects before and during strenuous physical exercise on a bicycle ergometer (repeated 4 times/day for 2 days). The exertion resulted in the well-known changes in the coagulation and fibrinolytic tests but did not induce changes in the concentration of fibrinogen, plasminogen or prothrombin in the plasma. A significantly increased catabolism of fibrinogen and plasminogen but not of prothrombin was observed. The extent of A.alpha.-chain degradation of fibrinogen in the plasma was quantitated before and 2 h after exercise, and a significant increase in degraded A.alpha. chains was found in the postexercise samples. Immunochemical estimation of plasmin-antiplasmin complex in 4 subjects revealed a small increase after exercise in 3 of them. Plasminogen activation and plasmin-induced fibrinogen degradation apparently occur to some extent in man following strenuous physical exercise.