TISSUE FACTOR PRODUCTION BY CULTURED RAT GLOMERULAR EPITHELIAL-CELLS

It is well known that fibrin deposition in Bowman's space in associati on with crescent formation may play an important role in progressive g lomerular injury in crescentic glomerulonephritis. Recent reports desc ribe the presence of a procoagulant activity (PCA) in the glomeruli an d its increased expression in human and experimental nephritis. The ce lls that synthesize PCA have not yet been identified. We attempted to determine if glomerular epithelial cells (GEC), one of the prominent c ell populations in the crescent, can produce PCA. The PCA of cultured rat GEC was measured by clotting and amidolytic assays. The cultured G EC yielded PCA with the characteristics of a tissue factor, and this P CA was stimulated by interleukin 1, tumour necrosis factor-alpha, and lipopolysaccharide. We concluded that GEC produce tissue-factor-like P CA and thereby may contribute to fibrin deposition, which, along with macrophage or monocyte infiltration, leads to crescent formation in cr escentic glomerulonephritis.