A STUDY OF THE FIBRINOLYTIC RESPONSE IN HEALTHY-MEN AND WOMEN FOLLOWING A BRIEF EXPOSURE TO VENOUS OCCLUSION

In this study, 176 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 25 yrs were tested for fibrinolytic activity before and after a 5 min pe riod of venous occlusion (VO) at 100 mm Hg. Using this protocol, 140 d emonstrated an increase in fibrin plate lysis following this brief per iod of venous occlusion and were classified as ''Responders.'' There w ere 36 individuals in the study who showed either a decrease or no cha nge in fibrin plate lysis after 5 min of venous occlusion and they wer e classified as ''Non-Responders.'' Responders showed a decrease in PA I-1 following VO. However, neither Responders nor Non-Responders demon strated any significant differences in the levels of plasminogen, anti plasmin, protein C, free t-PA, or total t-PA following this brief expo sure to venous occlusion. When comparing women and men in this study, women had significantly greater fibrin plate lysis both before and aft er 5 min of VO. They also demonstrated higher pre- and post-VO levels of circulating plasminogen. Also, women had less PAI-1 pre- and post-V O than men. When examining Responders and Non-Responders according to gender, women who were Responders had significantly greater fibrin pla te lysis before and after VO than male Responders. Also, women Respond ers demonstrated a significant decrease in PAI-1 following 5 min of VO when compared to men who were Responders in this study.