Unit of Diabetes and Nutrition, Cliniques Universitaires St-Luc, Brussels, Belgium.
Peptides. 2010 Feb;31(2):354-6. doi: 10.1016/j.peptides.2009.11.023. Epub 2009 Dec 2.
The available data suggest that Urocortin (UCN), a cardioprotective and vasoactive peptide known from fish neuroendocrinology, is involved in cardiac regulation. The aim of this study was to determine UCN plasma concentrations in patients with heart failure (HF). Plasma concentrations of UCN, measured in 42 fully treated HF patients. UCN, were determined using a specific ELISA assay after acidic extraction with Sep-Pak C18 columns. Circulating levels of other neurohormones Nt-proBNP, Nt-proANP and Big ET-1 were also determined. Reference values were obtained from 20 healthy age- and sex-matched subjects. In comparison with controls, UCN plasma concentrations (geometric mean [95% CI]) were significantly increased in HF patients (88 pmol/L [75-105] vs 46 [39-54], p<0.001). As expected, the other neurohormones were also significantly increased in HF patients (Nt-proBNP: 3501 pg/ml [2356-5202] vs 35 [24-51], Nt-proANP: 5498 pg/ml [4336-6971] vs 324 [255-411] and Big ET-1: 15.8 pg/ml [13.6-18.4] vs 5.9 [5.2-6.8]; p<0.01 for all vs controls). No significant correlation was observed between UCN and the other HF biomarkers. Our results demonstrate that plasma concentrations of UCN are significantly increased in patients with HF and that UCN may participate in the neurohumoral response of HF.
现有数据表明，尿皮质素（UCN）是一种来自鱼类神经内分泌学的心脏保护和血管活性肽，参与心脏调节。本研究旨在确定心力衰竭（HF）患者的 UCN 血浆浓度。使用特定的 ELISA 测定法，在酸性提取后用 Sep-Pak C18 柱测定 42 名充分治疗的 HF 患者的 UCN 血浆浓度。还测定了其他神经激素 Nt-proBNP、Nt-proANP 和 Big ET-1 的循环水平。参考值来自 20 名年龄和性别匹配的健康对照者。与对照组相比，HF 患者的 UCN 血浆浓度（几何均数[95%CI]）显著升高（88 pmol/L[75-105] vs 46 [39-54]，p<0.001）。正如预期的那样，其他神经激素在 HF 患者中也显著升高（Nt-proBNP：3501 pg/ml[2356-5202] vs 35 [24-51]，Nt-proANP：5498 pg/ml[4336-6971] vs 324 [255-411]和 Big ET-1：15.8 pg/ml[13.6-18.4] vs 5.9 [5.2-6.8]；所有 vs 对照组，p<0.01）。UCN 与其他 HF 生物标志物之间未观察到显著相关性。我们的结果表明，HF 患者的 UCN 血浆浓度显著升高，UCN 可能参与 HF 的神经激素反应。
