Prostacyclin-like activity and bleeding in renal failure

Specimens of venous tissue from three normal subjects and three patients with renal failure and very prolonged bleeding-times showed prostacyclin-like activity (inhibition of platelet aggregation) during incubation at room temperature. The specimens from all three uraemic patients showed more prostacyclin-like activity than those from the controls. After repeated washings, when this activity could hardly be detected in the controls, pronounced inhibitory activity was still evident in samples containing venous tissue from the three uraemic patients. These findings may be relevant to the pathogenesis of bleeding in renal failure.