Relationship between obstruction of arteriovenous fistula and plasma level of endothelin-1 in long-term haemodialysis patients

Summary: The relationship between the patency status of the autogenous arteriovenous (A-V) fistula and the plasma level of endothelin-1 (ET-1) was studied in 41 patients who had been receiving routine longterm haemodialysis for more than 10 years. the ET-1 level in the haemodialysis patients (mean ± s.d.=2.1 ± 0.9 pg/mL) was significantly elevated compared with that in healthy controls (n=16; 1.1 ± 0.4 pg/mL; P < 0.01). the patients were classified into two groups according to whether the original A-V fistula had remained patent for more than 10 years or had been repaired due to frequent (more than twice) obstruction. Among all 41 patients, 21 were receiving recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo) intravenously (i.v.). In the rHuEpo-treated group, the plasma ET-1 (n=21; 2.4 ± 0.8 pg/mL) was significantly elevated than that in the rHuEpo-untreated group (n=20; 1.9 ± 0.9 pg/mL; P