Effect of heparin on renal function in patients with oliguria.

The effect of short-term administration of heparin has been studied in seven patients with oliguric glomerulonephritis, five with accelerated hypertension, and three with transplant rejection. Measurements were made of the glomerular filtration rate, radiofibrinogen catabolism, and complement inhibition. Beneficial effects on fibrinogen catabolism were found in some cases of accelerated hypertension and transplant rejection, but heparin alone had no dramatic effect in glomerulonephritis. Heparin produced an increase of glomerular filtration rate, but in-vivo inhibition of complement by heparin was small.