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Plasminogen Activator and Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor in Human Preovulatory Follicular Fluid^*

Departments of Biochemistry (P.B.C.J.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (M.W.V., K.N.M., T.E.C.), University of Kentucky, Albert B. Chandler Medical Center Lexington, Kentucky 40536-0084

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Phillip B. C. Jones, Department of Biochemistry, University of Kentucky, Albert Chandler Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky 40536-0084.

To evaluate the roles of plasminogen activator (PA) and PA inhibitor (PAI) in human ovulation, we obtained follicular fluid and granulosa cells from individual preovulatory follicles of patients undergoing gamete intrafallopian tube transfer. The follicular fluid samples (n = 25) were analyzed for total tissue-type PA antigen, PA enzyme activity by fibrin autography, PAI activity, PAI type 1 (PAI-1) antigen, and PAI-1 mRNA. The follicular fluid of preovulatory follicles contained low levels of total tissue-type PA antigen (<1 ng/mL). Fibrin autography experiments indicated little or no detectable PA activity associated with free or unbound PA. The results of the PAI activity assay and PAI-1 antigen determination support the concept of a relative abundance of PAI compared with PA. Hybridization analysis was used to measure the relative amounts of granulosa cell PAI-1 mRNA. The levels of PAI-1 mRNA correlate with follicular fluid PAI concentrations in individual follicles. Taken together, these results support the idea that there is very little free, or active, PA in follicular fluid of human preovulatory follicles, but there is an abundance of PAI. Furthermore, PAI-1 produced by the granulosa cells may represent a major form of PAI in follicular fluid.

^* This work was supported by a grant-in-aid from the American Heart Association, Kentucky Affiliate, Inc.

Received October 31, 1988.

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