Effect of short course high dose methylprednisolone on endothelin-1 and nitric oxide in children with acute...

We have investigated serum endothelin-1 (ET) and nitric oxide (NO) levels before and after a short course of high dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as an indicator of vasoconstrictor and vasodilator properties of endothelium. Nineteen children with ALL (aged 13-180 months; 5 girls and 14 boys) and 25 healthy children were included in the present study. The children with ALL were given HDMP (20 mg kg 1 day 1) alone for the first 5 days. Serum ET and NO levels were analysed before and after a short course of high dose methylprednisolone. Before treatment, serum ET levels (median 7.6 pg ml 1) of the patients were lower than the healthy controls (13.0 pg ml 1) (p < 0.05), and it rose to similar levels (13.0 pg ml 1) following therapy as in the controls. Nitric oxide levels (7.0 micromol) of the patients were insignificantly higher than the healthy controls (3.9 micromol) and did not differ after treatment (7.0 micromol) (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the elevation of ET to normal level following treatment suggests that a short course of high dose of methylprednisolone improve the endothelial dysfunction caused by acute leukemia.