Increased endothelin in infants of pre-eclamptic mothers.
OBJECTIVE
Endothelin (ET), a vasoactive mediator, like others which originate from the endothelium or circulating cells, may participate in myocardial injury. In full-term neonates of mild pre-eclamptic mothers (NMPM), it identifies minor myocardial damage missed by other biochemical markers. The present study was designed to determine the diagnostic value of ET concentrations in NMPM.


METHODS
Seventeen NMPM were studied (10 boys and seven girls), and 17 healthy full-term (nine boys and eight girls) were selected for a control group. Birthweights in NMPM and control group were 2950 g (2.300-3.850) and 3.350 g (2.650-4.000), respectively. The ET measured by the radioimmunoassay method, Troponin T (TnT) were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method and creatine kinase (CK-MB) determined in chemical 1 analysis.


RESULTS
Serum ET and TnT concentrations in NMPM (3.32 pg/mL vs 0.74 ng/mL) were significantly higher than the control group (0.82 pg/mL vs 0.10 ng/mL) (P < 0.01 and < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Our study demonstrated high levels of ET, cardiac TnT in NMPM, presumably associated with myocardial damage in NMPM.
Narin
Nazmi
N
Department of Pediatrics, Erciyes University Medical Faculty, Kayseri, Turkey. nnarin@erciyes.edu.tr
Narin
Figen
F
Tutus
Ahmet
A
Tayyar
Mehmet
M
D003402:Creatine Kinase / Q000097:blood; D052279:Creatine Kinase, MB Form; D016232:Endothelins / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia; D011247:Pregnancy; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D020107:Troponin T / Q000097:blood
D016232:Endothelins; D007527:Isoenzymes; D020107:Troponin T; D003402:Creatine Kinase; D052279:Creatine Kinase, MB Form