title: Continuous intravenous administration of a low dose of epoprostenol greatly decreased serum concentrations of endothelin-1 in primary pulmonary hypertension--a case report.
abstract: Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is known to be a principal factor in the pathogenesis of primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH). Recently intravenous administration of epoprosterol improved the survival rate in PPH. However, the effect of epoprosterol on ET-1 remains to be investigated. Therefore, we studied a patient with PPH who was treated with a low dose of epoprosterol and examined the serum concentration of ET-1 during the treatment. Epoprosterol greatly decreased the serum concentration of ET-1 in parallel with improvement of the clinical course, suggesting that ET-1 level may be a marker for treatment of PPH.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Control, Kochi Medical School, Kochi, Japan. kakinuma@kochi-ms.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kakinuma
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Honma
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Hidekazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishimitsu
authors.forename: Iwao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D011464:Epoprostenol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006976:Hypertension, Pulmonary / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D019332:Endothelin-1; D011464:Epoprostenol