Endothelin-3 like immunoreactivity in plasma of patients with cirrhosis of the liver

A highly specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) has been
established for determination of endothelin-3 like immunoreactivity
in human plasma to investigate its possible role in hemodynamic
alterations due to liver disease. Crossreactivity with other
endothelin isoforms was always below 4 %, the lower detection limit
following extraction on Sep-Pak C18 cartridges was 0.5 pg/ml. The
concentration of endothelin-3 (mean ± SEM) was 4.16 ± 0.56 pg/ml (n
= 13) in plasma of patients with cirrhosis of the liver, three fold
higher than in age matched controls (1.35 ± 0.27 pg/ml, n = 12, p
< 0.01). Plasma immunoreactivity was confirmed to be
endothelin-3 related by reverse-phase HPLC. These data could
suggest a role of plasma endothelin-3 in circulatory changes, as
they occur in cirrhosis of the liver.