title: Determination of plasma concentrations of endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in healthy subjects and patients with atherosclerosis.
abstract: We previously found that human chymase cleaves big endothelins at the Tyr31-Gly32 bond and produces 31-amino-acid endothelins, endothelins(1-31). Endothelin-1(1-31) has been isolated from a number of human organs, including the heart and lungs. As endothelin-1 has been shown to play a significant role in the paracrine regulation of cardiovascular functions in humans, it is possible that endothelin-1(1-31) may also exhibit biological activity on human tissues. We previously reported that synthetic endothelin-1(1-31) exhibits a number of physiological actions on cultured cells in vitro. In the present study, we investigated the plasma concentrations of endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in healthy subjects and compared them with those in patients with cardiovascular diseases. Endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in human plasma was measured using a sandwich-enzyme-immunoassay system, which was recently described for measurement of endothelin-1(1-31). The plasma concentrations of endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in healthy volunteers were 19.24 +/- 5.70 and 15.54 +/- 4.45 pg/ml (n = 5), respectively. We also measured plasma concentrations of endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 before and after surgery in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms. Before surgery, plasma concentrations of endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in these patients were higher than those in healthy individuals. After surgery, both endothelin-1(1-31) and endothelin-1 in plasma decreased to levels similar to those of healthy subjects. This suggests that endothelin-1(1-31) may have similar physiological significance to endothelin-1 in patients with atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Tokushima School of Medicine, Tokushima, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzaki
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshizumi
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamashita
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuchiya
authors.forename: Yumiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuroda
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Horike
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kano
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fukata
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitaichi
authors.forename: Takaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minakuchi
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000097:blood; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000097:blood*; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D019332:Endothelin-1; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C114932:endothelin-1 (1-31)