Research Article

Expression of uPA, tPA, and PAI-1 in Calcified Aortic Valves

Table 2

Description of the studied valves with AS. Calcium content of the valves and concentrations of plasminogen activators and inhibitor of the fibrinolytic system released during 24 hours by the AS valves into the incubation medium (valve-conditioned medium) were measured. Results are expressed as mean ± SD.

Number of valvesCalcium content (g/g wet weight)u-PA (ng/mL)t-PA (ng/mL)PAI-1 (ng/mL)

65
31 <0.2
310.2–0.4
3>0.4

u-PA: urokinase-type plasminogen activator; t-PA: tissue-plasminogen activator; PAI-1: plasminogen activator inhibitor 1.