title: Endothelin-1[1-31] is not elevated in men with chronic heart failure.
abstract: Endothelin-1[1-31] is a recently discovered member of the endothelin family with vasoactive properties in several animal models and in man in vivo. It is generated from big endothelin-1 by human mast cell chymase and may be a novel intermediary peptide in the production of endothelin-1[1-21]. Given that both big endothelin-1[1-38] and chymase activity are increased in chronic heart failure, the aim of this study was to determine whether plasma endothelin-1[1-31] concentrations are elevated in patients with chronic heart failure. Plasma endothelin-1[1-31] concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in nine patients with chronic heart failure, and nine age- and sex-matched control subjects. Consistent with previous studies, plasma concentrations of big endothelin-1[1-38] were elevated in patients compared with controls (17.1 +/- 4.4 pg/mL vs 8.9 +/- 3.4 pg/mL, P = 0.002), although there were no differences in plasma endothelin-1[1-21] (3.3 +/- 0.4 pg/mL vs 3.4 +/- 0.7 pg/mL, P = 0.7) or endothelin-1[1-31] (both 1.1 +/- 0.1 pg/mL, P = 0.2) concentrations. We have demonstrated that patients with chronic heart failure have normal plasma endothelin-1[1-31] concentrations. This suggests that, in contrast to big endothelin-1[1-38], plasma endothelin-1[1-31] is unlikely to be a useful prognostic marker in patients with chronic heart failure.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacology Unit & Research Centre, The University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Leslie
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: Fiona E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Strachan
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bagnall
authors.forename: Gillian A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Newby
authors.forename: Martin A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Denvir
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Webb
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019332:Endothelin-1; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C114932:endothelin-1 (1-31)