[Presence of the regulatory peptide endothelin in the vascular endothelium of the human nasal mucosa].

Endothelin is a 21-amino acid peptide originally isolated from cultured endothelial cells. Besides being the most potent vasoconstrictor peptide. Endothelin is known to produce a wide range of biological effects: contraction of smooth airway muscle, stimulation of cell growth and modulation of hormone and neurotransmitter release. The aim of the present study was to use immunocytochemical techniques in investigating the possible occurrence of endothelin in normal human nasal mucosa. Endothelial cells of both capacitance and resistance blood vessels of the mucosa displayed endothelin-like immunoreactivity. It is reasonable to presume that endothelin, produced and released locally by endothelial cells, may play a role in controlling blood flow, in neuromodulation and in wound healing via a paracrine mechanism.