Antiprotease capacity in acute pancreatitis.

Serial measurements of circulating antiproteases were carried out on 42 consecutive patients admitted with acute pancreatitis. In the 7 days following admission the serum levels of alpha 1 antitrypsin (alpha 1 AT), alpha 1 antichymotrypsin (alpha 1 ACT) and the trypsin inhibitory capacity (TIC) increased by more than 300 per cent. The serum concentration of alpha 2 macroglobulin (alpha 2 M) alone showed a decline which was most profound in those patients with severe acute pancreatitis. Initial experience of fresh frozen plasma as a source of extrinsic antiproteases in severe acute pancreatitis is that it fails to prevent the decline in alpha 2 M or increase the already elevated TIC of the patients' serum.