Renal kinin and kallikrein excretion in cirrhotic patients.

Urinary kinin and urinary kallikrein activity were measured in 33 liver cirrhotics, and the values were correlated with the severity of the liver disease. A significant relationship was observed between urinary kinin excretion and urinary kallikrein excretion (r = 0.53; p less than 0.01). Both urinary kinin and kallikrein excretion were significantly lower in Child's group C than in Child's groups A and B (p less than 0.05) and showed positive correlations with serum albumin (r = 0.47, p less than 0.01 and r = 0.46, p less than 0.01, respectively). Increases in urinary kinin and kallikrein excretion after endoscopic variceal sclerotherapy were observed in 18 patients (p less than 0.01 and p less than 0.05, respectively). These results suggest that the renal kallikrein-kinin system in suppressed in severe liver disease in proportion to the severity of the underlying liver disease. In this study possible activation of this system after sclerotherapy was also demonstrated.