engleski

Endothelin in liver cirrhosis and myocardial infarction patients

Endothelin (ET) is a potent vasoconstrictor peptide, made up of 21 amino acids. It is produced and released from endothelial cells in the from of preproendothelin where an intermediate big-endothelin is derived. Their function is the control of cardiovascular and renal function. Increased ET1 levels have been reported in various diseases related to deranged systemic circulation. ET1 was measured in plasma of 42 healthy volunteers, 28 liver cirrhosis and 31 myocardial infarction patients (included according to clinical and biochemical criteria). ET1 levels were measured by ELISA ET1-21 test (Biomedica, Graz, Austria) with a detectable limit of 0.05 pmol/l. Statistical analysis was made by Sigmastat computer program. Differences between groups were tested by one-way analysis of variance, correlation between biochemical tests and ET1 by Pearson correlation coefficient, and clinical accuracy by ROC analysis. ET1 levels were significantly higher in both patient groups than in healthy volunteers (cirrhotics 0.6, range 0.4-0.95; infarction 0.7, range 0.4-0.95 pmol/l, p<0.001). There were found no correlation between any of standard biochemical test and ET levels. Clinical accuracy of ET1 is very high in both patient groups (cirrhotics r=0.912, and myocardial infarction patient group r=0.924), so it might be a useful marker of vascular changes in these patients.

endothelin; liver cirrhosis; myocardial infarction

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