Abstract
Certain specimens of human semen shorten the coagulation time of whole blood because of the presence of active thromboplastic agents, while other samples prolong its coagulation time. Human prostatic fluid in large amounts always delays or abolishes blood coagulation. The delay or absence of clotting is counteracted by adding calcium ions and is due to the large concentration of citrate in prostatic fluid and in some semens. While most specimens of dog semen shorten the coagulation time of blood because of their thromboplastic activity, certain specimens render blood incoagulable or delay coagulation; in contrast to human semen, this adverse effect on coagulation is not overcome with calcium ions and is due to a different mechanism, the lysis of fibrinogen. The citrate content of dog prostatic fluid is small. Human semen which has become liquefied does not contain thrombin or prothrombin, but fibrinogen and thromboplastic substances are present. Beef fibrinogen added to semen is destroyed by incubation for 18 hours, but added prothrombin and thromboplastic substances are still present after this treatment. Dog semen, in some instances, contains small amounts of thrombin. The semens of man and dog contain a fibrinolysin for human blood which seems not to differ greatly from the fibrinolysin associated with hemolytic streptococci. The blood of the donor of prostatic fluid is susceptible to fibrinolysis by this fluid. However, the blood of persons with some diseases, is absolutely resistant to the action of seminal fibrinolysin. In how many diseases this happens has not yet been determined. The semens of man and dog both contain an agent capable of inactivating fibrinogen, but in different amounts. This activity may be called fibrinogenase. Human semen is rich in fibrinolysin, poor in fibrinogenase; dog semen is rich in fibrinogenase, poor in fibrinolysin. These species differences, together with the fact that it is easy by appropriate dilution to retain the stronger proteolytic agent and eliminate the weaker one, imply that fibrinolysin and fibrinogenase are different entities. Dog semen, and less constantly human semen, contain very small amounts of trypsin. All of these proteolytic agents derive from the prostate gland; their secretion in prostatic fluid constitutes a hitherto undescribed function for the prostate gland.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (791.6 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Dickens F. The citric acid content of animal tissues, with reference to its occurrence in bone and tumour. Biochem J. 1941 Sep;35(8-9):1011–1023. doi: 10.1042/bj0351011. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Garner R. L., Tillett W. S. BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON THE FIBRINOLYTIC ACTIVITY OF HEMOLYTIC STREPTOCOCCI : I. ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF FIBRINOLYSIN. J Exp Med. 1934 Jul 31;60(2):239–254. doi: 10.1084/jem.60.2.239. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Garner R. L., Tillett W. S. BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON THE FIBRINOLYTIC ACTIVITY OF HEMOLYTIC STREPTOCOCCI : II. NATURE OF THE REACTION. J Exp Med. 1934 Jul 31;60(2):255–267. doi: 10.1084/jem.60.2.255. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Goldblatt M. W. Constituents of human seminal plasma. Biochem J. 1935 Jun;29(6):1346–1357. doi: 10.1042/bj0291346. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Huggins C., Masina M. H., Eichelberger L., Wharton J. D. QUANTITATIVE STUDIES OF PROSTATIC SECRETION : I. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NORMAL SECRETION; THE INFLUENCE OF THYROID, SUPRARENAL, AND TESTIS EXTIRPATION AND ANDROGEN SUBSTITUTION ON THE PROSTATIC OUTPUT. J Exp Med. 1939 Nov 30;70(6):543–556. doi: 10.1084/jem.70.6.543. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Smith H. P., Warner E. D., Brinkhous K. M. PROTHROMBIN DEFICIENCY AND THE BLEEDING TENDENCY IN LIVER INJURY (CHLOROFORM INTOXICATION). J Exp Med. 1937 Nov 30;66(6):801–811. doi: 10.1084/jem.66.6.801. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tagnon H. J. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FIBRINOLYSIS IN THE MECHANISM OF COAGULATION OF BLOOD. Science. 1942 Mar 27;95(2465):334–334. doi: 10.1126/science.95.2465.334. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tillett W. S., Edwards L. B., Garner R. L. FIBRINOLYTIC ACTIVITY OF HEMOLYTIC STREPTOCOCCI. THE DEVELOPMENT OF RESISTANCE TO FIBRINOLYSIS FOLLOWING ACUTE HEMOLYTIC STREPTOCOCCUS INFECTIONS. J Clin Invest. 1934 Jan;13(1):47–78. doi: 10.1172/JCI100579. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Tillett W. S., Garner R. L. THE FIBRINOLYTIC ACTIVITY OF HEMOLYTIC STREPTOCOCCI. J Exp Med. 1933 Sep 30;58(4):485–502. doi: 10.1084/jem.58.4.485. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]