Abstract
Shimeji kininase i.v. administered almost completely suppressed the pulmonary edema in rats induced by L-epinephrine. Kinin might be involved in the genesis of this edema because this enzyme maintained its kininase activity in the rat body for a fairly long time and was able to block the kinin action in the body. No inhibitory effect was observed when Shimeji kininase was i.p. administered. The reason for this was probably that the amount of Shimeji kininase that entered into the vascular system was small, and the concentration of Shimeji kininase in the plasma was therefore inadequate. Attempts to determine whether the kallikrein-kinin system was really activated or not in this pathogenetic state were unsuccessful because L-epinephrine present in plasma interfered with the quantitative determination of components related to the kallikrein-kinin system in plasma. At present, the mechanism of the activation of the kallikrein-kinin system in this pathogenetic state is not clear, although the marked suppression of the pulmonary edema by Shimeji kininase strongly suggested the involvement of the kallikrein-kinin system in this pathogenetic state in rats.