EBM Email Content Delivery
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Free
Right arrow Full Text (PDF) Free
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lattmann, T.
Right arrow Articles by Barton, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Lattmann, T.
Right arrow Articles by Barton, M.
Experimental Biology and Medicine 231:899-901 (2006)
© 2006 Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine

HEART

Upregulation of Endothelin Converting Enzyme-1 in Host Liver During Chronic Cardiac Allograft Rejection

Thomas Lattmann*,1, Jana Ortmann*,1, Sibylle Horber*,1, Sidney G. Shaw{dagger}, Marc Hein{ddagger} and Matthias Barton*,2

* Medical Policlinic, Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland; {dagger} Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, Switzerland; and {ddagger} Department of Anaesthesiology, University Hospital, Aachen, Germany

To whom requests for reprints should be addressed at 2 Medical Policlinic, Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Rämistrasse 100, CH-8091 Zürich, Switzerland. E-mail: barton{at}usz.ch

Abstract

Endothelin regulates cytokine expression in vitro and in vivo. This study investigated the effects of chronic allograft rejection on hepatic endothelin-converting enzyme-1 (ECE-1) gene expression and endothelin-1 (ET-1) plasma clearance. Using the Lewis-F344 minor histocompatibility mismatch model of heterotopic cardiac transplantation, hepatic ECE-1 gene expression was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction and host plasma clearance of ET-1 was measured 8 weeks after transplantation in the absence of immunosuppression. In animals undergoing allograft rejection, hepatic ECE-1 gene expression increased 2-fold (P < 0.05), whereas no effect of rejection on ET-1 clearance from plasma was observed. In summary, upregulation of ECE-1 gene expression occurs in the liver of the host during chronic allograft rejection. Because the liver represents both a key organ for cytokine production and for endothelin metabolism, increased hepatic ECE-1–mediated ET-1 synthesis may contribute to host responses and cytokine production during allograft rejection.

Key Words: transplantation • heart • systemic • organ • ECE






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2006 by the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.