title: Endothelin 1 levels in the aqueous humor of dogs with glaucoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Endothelin 1 is a small peptide that is involved in regulation of intraocular pressure and modulation of ocular circulation. To investigate the role of endothelin 1 in canine glaucoma, the authors measured aqueous humor levels of endothelin 1 in healthy dogs and in dogs with hypertensive glaucoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Aqueous humor samples were obtained with general anesthesia from the eyes of healthy dogs (n = 5) and dogs with hypertensive glaucoma (n = 10). Measurements were made by enzyme immunoassay for endothelin 1.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The endothelin 1 aqueous humor range was 1.12 - 3.63 pg/mL for healthy dogs and 1.97 - 14.97 pg/mL for glaucomatous dogs. The healthy and glaucomatous canine endothelin 1 aqueous levels (mean +/- SD) were 2.33 +/- 0.90 and 8.11 +/- 5.03 pg/mL, respectively. A two-way analysis of variance indicated that this difference was significant (P = 0.0084). The effect of age on endothelin 1 levels was not significant (P = 0.6283). The large variability found within the glaucomatous group could be explained by the degree of damage of the retina (P = 0.0006). There was no significant correlation between intraocular pressure and endothelin 1 aqueous humor levels within the glaucomatous group (P = 0.29).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The aqueous humor of dogs with hypertensive glaucoma contains significantly higher levels of endothelin 1 than that of healthy dogs.
authors.affiliation: Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Maria E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Källberg
authors.forename: Dennis E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Gustavo A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Garcia-Sanchez
authors.forename: Andras M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Komàromy
authors.forename: Nancy J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Szabo
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001082:Aqueous Humor / Q000378:metabolism*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000378:metabolism*; D004285:Dogs; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000662:veterinary*; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D019332:Endothelin-1