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Relationship: 2355
Title
Bradykinin, activated leads to Hypofibrinolysis
Upstream event
Downstream event
AOPs Referencing Relationship
| AOP Name | Adjacency | Weight of Evidence | Quantitative Understanding | Point of Contact | Author Status | OECD Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Decreased fibrinolysis and activated bradykinin system leading to hyperinflammation | adjacent | Cataia Ives (send email) | Under development: Not open for comment. Do not cite | Under Development |
Taxonomic Applicability
| Term | Scientific Term | Evidence | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| human | Homo sapiens | High | NCBI |
Sex Applicability
| Sex | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Male | High |
| Female | High |
Life Stage Applicability
Bradykinin (BK) plays an important role in the kinin-kallikrein system (KKS) as a regulator of blood pressure and can induce vasodilation, increase blood flow, as well as hypotension. BK is also an important part of the inflammatory process after injury, inducing pain stimulation. Activation of the BK system is associated with vasodilation and vascular leakage, allowing for infiltration of proinflammatory cells such as IL6 ((Hofman et al, 2016).
During SARS-CoV-2 infection, increased activity of kallikrein activates the bradykinin system. Bradykinin is known to stimulate tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), a protein that increases fibrinolysis. However, ACE2 downregulation from SARS-COV-2 infection increases Angiotensin 1 and II (ANG 1 and ANGII), which increases Plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) levels and decreases tPA levels (Mogielnicki et al, 2014). PAI-1 inhibits the protective effects of tPA/uPA in fibrinolysis, decreasing fibrinolysis. Data shows that both Bradykinin, and subsequently tPA levels and PAI-1 levels increase in COVID-19 patients, but PAI-1 increases at a higher rate than tPA, leading to hypofibrinolysis(Zuo et al, 2021).
Bradykinin, as a result of its role as a vasodilator, increases vascular permeability, which increases levels of proinflammatory mediators such as IL6 (Sprague et al, 2009). These proinflammatory mediators have been found to increase PAI-1 levels, which ultimately leads to hypofibrinolysis(Kang et al, 2020. Rega et al, 2020).
| ID | Experimental Design | Species | Upstream Observation | Downstream Observation | Citation (first author, year) | Notes |
|---|
| Title | First Author | Biological Plausibility |
Dose Concordance |
Temporal Concordance |
Incidence Concordance |
|---|
Biological Plausibility
Dose Concordance Evidence
Temporal Concordance Evidence
Incidence Concordance Evidence
Uncertainties and Inconsistencies
While the evidence connecting bradykinin activation and fibrinolysis decrease is evident, a direct relationship where bradykinin activation leads to fibrinolysis decrease is harder to establish. One of the outcomes of bradykinin runs opposite to fibrinolysis decrease, as bradykinin increases tPA levels where hypofibrinolysis decreases tPA levels as a result of PAI-1 increase. Without a stressor that affects PAI-1 levels more drastically than bradykinin affects tPA levels, such as SARS-COV-2, this relationship would not be possible.
SARS-COV-2 is shown to be a modulating factor as Bradykinin activation normally causes increased tPA/uPA, which would cause fibrinolysis, not hypofibrinolysis.
Understanding quantitative linkage is difficult as the global pandemic caused by SARS-COV-2 is still a major factor in the world, however it is clear that individuals more severely affected by SARS-COV-2 (hospitalizations) result in higher change of fibrinolysis decrease as a result of bradykinin activation. Perturbation of the RAAS system where ANGII levels are greater than ANGI levels cause this relationship. What specifically causes more severe SARS-COV-2 reactions is yet to be understood.