conclusions we observed acceptable results regarding both efficacy and safety with 62.5 mg of bosentan, twice daily in this group of patients. further clinical trials investigating pah with lower dosages of bosentan may be warranted. results no adverse drug reaction was observed during the follow-up. clinical worsening occurred in six (14%) patients, at least one year after treatment, two of th...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Endothelins are a recently discovered group of most powerful vasoconstrictor peptides. Endothelin-1 is produced by endothelial cells, and endothelin-3 is derived from neuronal tissue. Theoretically, endothelin-mediated vasoconstriction may enhance ischemic neuronal damage. This study aimed to measure plasma levels of both endothelins in patients with acute nonhemorrhagic ...

BACKGROUND Although the contractile, migratory, and proliferative responses of subepithelial myofibroblasts to injury have been postulated to be important events in intestinal wound healing, contractile force generation and migration by these cells has not been investigated previously, and the signals that regulate proliferation by these cells are poorly understood. AIMS The primary aim of th...

The renal endothelin system contributes to sex differences in blood pressure with males demonstrating greater endothelin type-A receptor-mediated responses relative to females. Intrauterine growth restriction programs hypertension and enhance renal sensitivity to acute angiotensin II in male growth-restricted rats. Endothelin is reported to work synergistically with angiotensin II. Thus, this s...

Endothelin is a potent vasoconstrictive peptide initially characterized as a product of endothelial cells. To examine the potential role of endothelin as a neuropeptide, we studied its distribution in the human central nervous system. RNA blot hybridization provided evidence of endothelin gene transcription in a variety of functional regions of the brain. In situ hybridization confirmed the wid...

The aim of this study was to identify the role of chymase in the conversion of exogenously administered Big endothelin-1 in the mouse in vivo. Real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis detected mRNA of mucosal mast cell chymases 4 and 5, endothelin-converting enzyme 1a, and neutral endopeptidase 24.11 in pulmonary, cardiac, and aorta homogenates derived from C57BL/6J mice, with the latter ti...

1. The contractile responses to endothelin-1 and the effect on these of various magnesium concentrations, were studied in isolated aortic rings from normotensive Sprague-Dawley rats and deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt (DOCA-salt) hypertensive rats. 2. Contractions induced by endothelin-1 were smaller in endothelium-denuded aortae from DOCA-salt hypertensive rats than in those from normotensive...

A recently described peptide hormone, endothelin, is a potent vasoconstrictor, but it is unclear whether endothelin has other biological actions. These experiments extend the range of biological actions of endothelin to stimulation of mitogenesis. Endothelin at low concentrations (0.1-10 nM) induced mitogenesis by quiescent rat glomerular mesangial cells in culture. Mitogenesis induced by endot...

The effect of the vasoactive peptide, endothelin, on facility of outflow, accommodation, and pupil diameter was measured in the monkey eye in vivo. Endothelin increased the outflow facility 22-71% at approximate anterior chamber concentrations ranging from 10(-10)-10(-7) M. Endothelin-induced accommodation was modest but consistent and statistically significant ranging from 1.61 to a maximum of...

1. Animal kidneys are exquisitely sensitive to the vasoconstrictor and antinatriuretic effects of the endogenous vascular peptide endothelin. Animal studies have implicated endothelin in cyclosporin A and ischaemia-mediated renal damage. 2. In man, endothelin levels are raised in various disorders. Orally active endothelin antagonists are now being developed, but little was known of endothelin'...