Plasma immunoreactive endothelin concentration correlates with severity of coronary artery disease in patients with stable angina pectoris and normal ventricular function

Department of Cardiological Sciences, St. George's Hospital Medical School, London, England.

OBJECTIVES: The present study tested the hypothesis that plasma immunoreactive endothelin concentration correlates with the severity and extent of coronary atherosclerosis. BACKGROUND: Plasma endothelin-1 concentration is increased in patients with unstable coronary syndromes and advanced atherosclerosis. This finding, together with other clinicopathologic observations, suggests that endothelins may participate in the atherogenic process. However, the relation between plasma immunoreactive endothelin and coronary artery disease in patients with stable angina pectoris remains controversial. METHODS: Ninety consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography for the investigation of exertional chest pain and 49 normal control subjects were prospectively studied. Eleven patients had normal coronary angiographic findings (group I), 65 had coronary artery stenoses (group II), and 14 had coronary artery disease plus symptoms indicating atheroma in other vascular territories (group III). Computerized angiography was used to determine the extent, severity and morphology of coronary stenoses. Plasma immunoreactive endothelin was measured by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Mean (+/- SD) plasma endothelin concentration (pg/ml) was significantly higher in patients than in control subjects (7.29 +/- 4.07 vs. 3.48 +/- 1.29, p < 0.0001). Endothelin levels were higher in patients of group III than in those of groups II and I (9.43 +/- 5.48, 7.20 +/- 3.72 and 4.94 +/- 2.89, respectively, p = 0.02). In patients of group II, plasma endothelin correlated with the maximal degree of stenosis in each patient (r = 0.25, p = 0.04) and with the number of stenoses with > or = 70% diameter narrowing (r = 0.36, p = 0.002). The highest plasma endothelin levels were found in patients with total occlusions (8.65 +/- 3.78 vs. 6.46 +/- 3.51 p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Plasma immunoreactive endothelin concentration is increased in patients with chronic stable angina. The higher levels occur in patients with severe stenoses and total coronary occlusion.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. L. McNair, D. A. Salamanca, and R. A. Khalil Endothelin-1 Promotes Ca2+ Antagonist-Insensitive Coronary Smooth Muscle Contraction Via Activation of {epsilon}-Protein Kinase C Hypertension, April 1, 2004; 43(4): 897 - 904. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Alioglu, A. Orem, I. Bulbul, C. Boz, M. Ozmenoglu, and B. Vanizor Evaluation of Plasma Endothelin-1 Levels in Patients with Cerebral Infarction Angiology, January 1, 2002; 53(1): 77 - 82. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E.G. Zouridakis, R. Schwartzman, X. Garcia-Moll, I.D. Cox, S. Fredericks, D.W. Holt, and J.C. Kaski Increased plasma endothelin levels in angina patients with rapid coronary artery disease progression Eur. Heart J., September 1, 2001; 22(17): 1578 - 1584. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J S Sidhu and J C Kaski Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor {gamma}: a potential therapeutic target in the management of ischaemic heart disease Heart, September 1, 2001; 86(3): 255 - 258. [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Aleksic, Z. Szabo, U. Scheffel, H. T. Ravert, W. B. Mathews, L. Kerenyi, P. A. Rauseo, R. E. Gibson, H. D. Burns, and R. F. Dannals In Vivo Labeling of Endothelin Receptors with [11C]L-753,037: Studies in Mice and a Dog J. Nucl. Med., August 1, 2001; 42(8): 1274 - 1280. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. A. Grantham, J. A. Schirger, P. W. Wennberg, S. Sandberg, D. M. Heublein, T. Subkowski, and J. C. Burnett Jr Modulation of Functionally Active Endothelin-Converting Enzyme by Chronic Neutral Endopeptidase Inhibition in Experimental Atherosclerosis Circulation, April 25, 2000; 101(16): 1976 - 1981. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Zellner, A. A. Protter, E. Ko, M. R. Pothireddy, T. DeMarco, S. J. Hutchison, T. M. Chou, K. Chatterjee, and K. Sudhir Coronary vasodilator effects of BNP: mechanisms of action in coronary conductance and resistance arteries Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, March 1, 1999; 276(3): H1049 - H1057. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Pahor, M. B. Elam, R. J. Garrison, S. B. Kritchevsky, and W. B. Applegate Emerging Noninvasive Biochemical Measures to Predict Cardiovascular Risk Arch Intern Med, February 8, 1999; 159(3): 237 - 245. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Sudhir, E. Ko, C. Zellner, H. E. Wong, S. J. Hutchison, T. M. Chou, and K. Chatterjee Physiological Concentrations of Estradiol Attenuate Endothelin 1–Induced Coronary Vasoconstriction In Vivo Circulation, November 18, 1997; 96(10): 3626 - 3632. [Abstract] [Full Text]