Activation of the kallikrein-kinin system in bullet wounding.

Anesthetized pigs were wounded in the thigh with a spherical missile at an impact velocity of 1500 m/sec. Arterial blood samples were taken before injury and at frequent intervals up to 12 hours after injury. Unbound (free) and total kallikrein (kallikrein + prekallikrein) were analyzed with a chromogenic substrate (S-2302, Kabi, Sweden) in which enzyme activity is determined spectrophotometrically by the development of a yellow colour. The results indicate an activation of the kallikrein-kinin system in bullet wounding, the significance of which remains to be determined.