Objective: To explore the changes of plasma endothelin (ET) and nitric oxide (NO) levels in patients with acute pancreatitis.
Methods: The level of plasma ET was measured by radioactive-immunoassay, and NO by spectrophotometry.
Results: The levels of ET, NO and the ET/NO ratio in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) within 24 hours in hospital were all significantly higher than those in other groups of patients [(176±8) pg/ml, (97±11) μmol/L, and 1.83±0.12, P<0.01] . Compared to healthy controls (N), the levels of ET and NO in patients without pancreatitis acute abdomen (NAP) and patients with mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) increased significantly (P<0.01). After appropriate treatment, the levels of ET and NO in the MAP group were lower (P<0.01). Compared with those Before treatment, the levels of ET and NO in the SAP group on the 3rd and 7th day in hospital dropped significantly (P<0.01). The ET/NO ratio on the 7th day was also lower than that on admission (P<0.01).
Conclusions: The malfunction of endothelial cells and the increased ET/NO ratio may be related to the mechanism of pancreatic microcirculatory disturbance in patients with SAP; early dynamic determination of these parameters may help predict the prognosis of SAP.