Fibrinolysis in the upper gastrointestinal tract.

There is a higher level of fibrinolytic activity in gastric venous blood than in arterial blood entering the stomach and peripheral venous blood. The higher activity is probably attributable to blood vessels in the wall of the stomach, which have been shown by histochemical methods to contain fibrinolysis activators. The mucosal cells of the stomach and duodenum also contain fibrinolysis activators. The gastric juice of healthy individuals and peptic ulcer patients show little or no activity, whereas that of patients with erosive haemorrhagic gastroduodenitis shows pronounced fibrinolytic activity. In patients with a history of haemorrhagic episodes there is a considerably higher degree of fibrinolytic activity than in those without a history of bleeding. These findings indicate that there may be a connection between local fibrinolysis and bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract.