Fibrinogen and experimental inflammation

Plasma fibrinogen concentrations are useful indexes for the assessment of inflammation and its therapy. The increase in plasma fibrinogen concentrations is related to the magnitude of the inflammation. It occurs before clinical evidence of disease. In rats with granuloma pouches, fibrinogen appears to be sequestered in areas of granulomatous tissue formation. Heparin injections into local sites of inflammation lead to exsanguination. Local steroid injections are more efficacious than subcutaneous injections for the reduction of both the local inflammatory reaction and circulating fibrinogen. The exact role of fibrinogen in areas of inflammation is not known entirely. The physiologic factors controlling its increased synthesis by the liver in response to distant sites of inflammation are unknown.