Yamaji T, Johshita H, Ishibashi M, Takaku F, Ohno H, Suzuki N, Matsumoto H, Fujino M
Third Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Japan.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1990 Dec;71(6):1611-5. doi: 10.1210/jcem-71-6-1611.
To clarify whether endothelin may be present in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and, if it exists, to compare its molecular forms with those of endothelin in human plasma, we analyzed pooled human CSF and plasma by high performance liquid chromatography with specific enzyme immunoassays for each endothelin peptide. Of the four human endothelin peptides hitherto identified, big endothelin-1 was the major molecular form of endothelin present in human CSF. In addition, there was a small but significant amount of endothelin-1 and endothelin-3 in CSF, while endothelin-2 was not detectable. Similarly, big endothelin-1, endothelin-1, and endothelin-3 were identified in human plasma. Although big endothelin-1 was the most abundant, a substantial amount of endothelin-1 and endothelin-3 was found in plasma with a resultant lower molar ratio of big endothelin-1 to endothelin-1 than in CSF. In all CSF samples from 17 patients requiring diagnostic lumbar puncture or lumbar anesthesia, endothelin was detectable, with a preponderance of big endothelin-1 relative to endothelin-1 and endothelin-3. The mean concentrations of endothelin-1 and endothelin-3 in simultaneously collected plasma were significantly (P less than 0.01) higher than those in CSF, while there was no significant difference between the mean big endothelin-1 concentration in plasma and that in CSF. There was no significant correlation among concentrations of big endothelin-1, endothelin-1, and endothelin-3 in each paired sample. These results indicate that endothelin is present in human CSF that is differently processed from endothelin in vascular endothelial cells and suggest a possible role for endothelin as a modulator of neuronal functions.
为明确内皮素是否存在于人类脑脊液（CSF）中，若存在，将其分子形式与人类血浆中的内皮素进行比较，我们采用高效液相色谱法及针对每种内皮素肽的特异性酶免疫分析法，对汇集的人类脑脊液和血浆进行了分析。在迄今已鉴定出的四种人类内皮素肽中，大内皮素 -1是人类脑脊液中存在的内皮素的主要分子形式。此外，脑脊液中存在少量但显著量的内皮素 -1和内皮素 -3，而未检测到内皮素 -2。同样，在人类血浆中也鉴定出了大内皮素 -1、内皮素 -1和内皮素 -3。尽管大内皮素 -1含量最为丰富，但血浆中也发现了大量的内皮素 -1和内皮素 -3，导致大内皮素 -1与内皮素 -1的摩尔比低于脑脊液中的摩尔比。在17例需要进行诊断性腰椎穿刺或腰椎麻醉的患者的所有脑脊液样本中，均可检测到内皮素，其中大内皮素 -1相对于内皮素 -1和内皮素 -3占优势。同时采集的血浆中内皮素 -1和内皮素 -3的平均浓度显著高于脑脊液中的浓度（P < 0.01），而血浆中与脑脊液中大内皮素 -1的平均浓度无显著差异。每对样本中大内皮素 -1、内皮素 -1和内皮素 -3的浓度之间无显著相关性。这些结果表明，内皮素存在于人类脑脊液中，其加工方式与血管内皮细胞中的内皮素不同，并提示内皮素可能作为神经元功能的调节剂发挥作用。
