FIBRINOLYTIC ACTIVITY IN NORMAL AND INFLAMED RECTAL MUCOSA

In an attempt to determine whether an abnormal hemostatic mechanism may account for mucosal friability in active ulcerative colitis, rectal biopsy specimens from normal subjects and from patients with ulcerative colitis, or other inflammatory or radiation-induced disorders of the colon, were studied for fibrinolytic activity by the histochemical fibrin slide technique. Fibrinolytically active sites occurred more frequently in specimens from patients with active ulcerative colitis than in normal specimens. Plasminogen activator was present at sites in the edematous lamina propria. © 1969 Informa UK Ltd.