does the kidney with stenosis of the renal artery upregulate production of endthelin-1?
PROBLEM: To examine the value of plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1), we measured the level of plasma ET-1 activity of peripheral venous blood and selective renal venous blood in renovascular hypertension patients, and compared that activity with corresponding renin activity and split renal function. METHODS: ET-1 level, renin activity in selective renal venous blood and peripheral venous blood, and 99mTc-dimercaptosuccinic acid renal uptake as a split renal function test were measured in 11 patients (mean 42.1 years old) with renovascular hypertension (RVH) and 6 patients with both renal cell cancer (RCC) and essential hypertension. RESULTS: 1. In patients with RVH, resting peripheral venous plasma ET-1 ranged from 0.6 to 8.1 (mean 4.07) pg/ml and was higher than the normal level (p <0.01). However, the renal vein ET-1 ratio was nor correlated with the renal vein renin ratio. 2. In patients with RCC, resting peripheral venous plasma ET-1 was not different from the normal level. There was no st
