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Updated: Oct 15, 2026

Monitoring Neutrophil Elastase and Cathepsin G Activity in Human Sputum Samples
Published on: May 21, 2021
Neutrophil elastase may play a key role in developing symptomatic disseminated intravascular coagulation and multiple
1Department of Neurosurgery, Fujinomiya City General Hospital, Shizuoka-ken, Japan.
Objective:
To study the mechanism associated with the development of symptomatic disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) after head injury.
Methods:
Plasma parameters were analyzed in patients with symptomatic (group A, n = 10) and asymptomatic DIC (group B, n = 15) induced by head injury, and in patients in whom DIC was caused by sepsis (group C, n = 10).
Results:
Levels of fibrinogen, alpha2PI-plasmin complex and platelets in group A (58.1 mg/dL, 22.4 microg/mL, 16.0 x 10(4)/ mm3) and group B (98.3, 22.1, 16.6 x 10(4)) were comparable, but differed significantly from those in group C (297.4, 2.4, 6.3 x 10(4)). Significant differences were observed between groups A and B in both neutrophil-elastase (1,528 vs. 293 microg/ml) and D-dimer (42.1 vs. 17.6 microg/mL).
Conclusion:
Neutrophil elastase may be implicated in the development of symptomatic DIC after head injury, whose characteristics include "enhanced fibrinolysis with minimal platelet loss."
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