TAMe esterase activity in human plasma under normal and pathological conditions.

producing enzyme is capable of splitting TAMe, attempts have been made to use this authentic substrate for the determination of the enzyme activity. However, some investigators consider that TAMe esterase activity is associated with the kininogenase activity in part. It is well known that TAMe can be hydrolyzed by many kinds of enzymes such as kallikrein,4 plasmin,5 trypsin,6 thrombin,7 per meability factor,9 Hageman factor,10 cathepsin,7 and the first component of complement.11,12 Several authors assume that these enzymes play important roles under pathological conditions. Although they report a significant elevation of TAMe esterase activities in human plasma1 and serum3 under pancreatic diseases, there is no information available about the enzyme activity in other pathological condi tions. In the present investigation we have estimated TAMe esterase activity in human plasma under normal and a variety of pathological conditions.