To estimate the degree of coagulopathy in abdominal sepsis, we measured the plasma levels of prothrombin fragment 1+2 (F1+2), thrombin-antithrombin III complex (TAT) and plasmin-Α2-plasmin inhibitor complex (PIC) by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 38 patients with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). In 20 patients with DIC due to abdominal sepsis, plasma levels of F1+2, TAT and PIC were 2.6 nmol/l, 27.9 µg/l and 1.5 µg/ml, respectively, with a mean antithrombin III (AT III) activity of 41.7%. F1+2, TAT, PIC and AT III levels were 4.7 nmol/l, 75.8 µg/l, 8.8 µg/ml and 70.9% in 18 patients with DIC as the result of malignancy. Though AT III levels in DIC due to sepsis were lower than those in DIC due to malignancy, the levels of F1+2, TAT and PIC in the former were not significantly more increased than those in the latter. The plasma levels of F1+2 were positively correlated with TAT and PIC in DIC patients with malignancy; however, there was no correlation between F1+2 and TAT or PIC in DIC patients with sepsis. In addition, the levels of serum albumin in the two groups were similar. These results suggest that activation of coagulation and fibrinolytic systems may not be so prominent in cases of DIC due to abdominal sepsis, compared to related events in DIC due to malignancy. It is also suggested that the depletion of AT III in cases of sepsis is not only caused by a consumption related to intravascular coagulation or to an alternate distribution of protein. It may relate to nonspecific proteolytic degradation by granulocytic proteinases. F1+2 may be more suitable than TAT for the evaluation of the coagulopathy in DIC patients with sepsis.

Keywords:
Sepsis, Disseminated intravascular coagulation, Antithrombin III, Prothrombin fragment 1+2
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© 1992 S. Karger AG, Basel
1992
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