Fibrinogen degradation product-D, fibrinogen, and serum change polymorphonuclear granulocyte activity--possibly...

Severe trauma favors the susceptibility of patients to infection. It has been shown that proteins or protein fragments are responsible for an endogenous immunodepression. After trauma a coagulopathy accompanied by increased serum levels of fibrinogen degradation products (FDP) is often found. Therefore, we examined whether FDP-D can influence the activity of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN). PMN-activation was measured by two different superoxide-specific methods (Cytochrome-C-test, INT-test). With both methods we found a decrease of PMN activity by FDP-D compared to fibrinogen. Albumin, which was used as a control protein, only influenced PMN activity in unphysiologically high concentrations. The third method used to quantify PMN activity was chemiluminescence, which is a more unspecific method since it is developed not only by oxygen radical species but also by activating the lipoxygenase pathway. In contrast to the superoxide specific tests we found an inhibitory effect of fibrinogen and also serum compared to FDP-D using chemiluminescence.