PEDIATRICS Vol. 99 No. 4 April 1997, pp. 545-547 (doi:10.1542/peds.99.4.545)
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PEDIATRICS Vol. 99 No. 4 April 1997, pp. 545-547

High Endothelin-1 in the Airways of Preterm Infants Is Associated With Less Severe Respiratory Distress During the Early Postnatal Period

Received Mar 22, 1996; accepted May 28, 1996.

Sture Andersson*, Dagger , T. Allen Merritt*, Arto OrpanaDagger , Lasse Viinikka§, and Olavi YlikorkalaDagger

From * Department of Pediatrics, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon; the Dagger  Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; the § Department of Clinical Chemistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; and the parallel  Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.

Objective.  To study the relationship between endothelin-1 (ET-1) in the airways and respiratory distress in preterm infants.

Methods.  ET-1 was determined in 60 tracheal aspirates from 11 preterm intubated infants (gestational age 28.0 ± 2.5 weeks) during the first week of life.

Results.  The concentration of ET-1 of the aspirates was 6 to 2760 pg/mL (median 293 pg/mL). Negative correlations existed between mean log ET-1 and mean airway pressure (R = .812) and fraction of inspired oxygen (R = .591), whereas a positive correlation was found between the arteriolar/alveolar oxygenation ratio within 3 hours of birth and mean log ET-1 on the first day (R = .555).

Conclusion.  The association of high ET-1 in the airways with less severe respiratory distress in the early postnatal period may be attributable to effects of ET-1 on surfactant secretion or development of airway epithelium.

Key words: endothelin, preterm infant, respiratory distress, lung.