title: Changes in plasma levels of ET-1 and its precursor, big ET-1, in the arterial and venous circulation following double myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury in dogs.
abstract: Upregulation of the endothelin (ET) system, following coronary ischemia-reperfusion injury, may contribute to coronary vasospasm and congestive heart failure. Because endothelin-1 (ET-1) is rapidly cleared from the circulation, the levels of its inactive precursor big ET-1 and the ET-1/big ET-1 ratio may constitute better ways to assess the activation of the ET system in both venous and arterial beds. Anesthetized dogs (n = 6-12) were subjected to two successive coronary artery occlusions (with intervening 60 min reperfusion) over 6 h. Cardiac hemodynamics and electrocardiogram (ECG) were recorded and blood samples were drawn simultaneously from the internal thoracic artery and coronary sinus (venous blood). Under basal conditions at t = -20 min, arterial plasma levels of ET-1 and big ET-1 were 2.05 +/- 0.21 and 2.00 +/- 0.51 pg/ml (ratio: 1.00; n = 12); venous values were 2.29 +/- 0.25 and 3.14 +/- 0.77, respectively (ratio: 0.73, n = 12). Both arterial and venous plasma levels of ET-1 increased (by 46 and 56%) after 5 and 15 min of reperfusion, respectively, following the initial 120 min ischemic period compared to baseline values, and returned to near baseline values after 60 min reperfusion. Both arterial and venous values for big ET-1 increased steadily by 2.2 and 2.3 times maximum, respectively, during the initial 60 min reperfusion period; these values increased by 3.4 and 3.2 times, respectively by the end of the second 120 min reperfusion period. ET-1/big ET-1 ratios dropped to 0.39, in arterial, and 0.21, in venous plasma, at the end of the second reperfusion period. In conclusion, plasma ET-1 levels increase significantly but transiently after the first ischemic injury; the increased plasma big ET-1 levels were more pronounced in both the arterial and venous circulation along with ischemia-reperfusion injuries. These results suggest an upregulation of the ET system that was easily monitored by increased production of big ET-1. During ischemia-reperfusion injuries, the conversion to the active mature peptide ET-1 is either impaired, or ET-1 is more rapidly degraded.
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche, Hôpital Laval, Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie, Department of Medicine, Laval University, Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Battistini
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Kingma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D016232:Endothelins / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics; D008297:Male; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000097:blood*; D015428:Myocardial Reperfusion Injury / Q000097:blood*; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D019332:Endothelin-1; D016232:Endothelins; D011498:Protein Precursors