RESUMEN
To assess whether plasma and urinary Endothelin-I [ET.I] values are related to the severity of diabetic nephropathy. We measured plasma and urinary ET.I like immunoreactivity [ET.I.LT] in 15 healthy subjects [group I] and 25 NIDDM patients with normalbuminuria [group II], 25 with microalbuminuria [group III] and 15 with macroalbuminuria. Plasma ET-I values were significantly increased in group IV ands correlated positively with serum creatinine levels [r-0.579, P<0.01]. Urinary ET.I excretion in group IV [49.3 +/- 7.3 Pmol/day] was significantly higher than that in healthy controls [27.0 +/- 1.1 pmol/day] and in group II [32.2 +/- 2.2 Pmol /day], while that of group III [38.8 +/- 5.9 pmol/day] was also higher than in healthy controls. A significant positive correlation between urinary ET.I and serum creatinine values was also found [r +0.297, P<0.05]. These results demonstrate that an increase in plasma and urine ET.I correlates with the severity of diabetic nephropathy