Endothelin: role in hypertension

Endothelins (ET) are 21-aminoacid peptides produced ubiquitously, which were discovered originally as endothelial products. These peptides may play important roles in cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology. As the pathophysiologic roles of endothelins in cardiovascular disease become increasingly apparent, the potential therapeutic use of endothelin antagonists or endothelin converting enzyme inhibitors is recognized. The main endothelin produced by the endothelium is ET-1. Endothelin-1 is overexpressed in the vascular wall of salt-dependent models of hypertension, such as DOCA-salt hypertensive rats, DOCA-salt-treated spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Dahl salt-sensitive rats, and in stroke-prone SHR, angiotensin II-infused rats and 1-kidney 1 clip Goldblatt hypertensive rats, but not in SHR, 2-K 1C hypertensive rats or L-NAME-treated rats. The vasoconstrictor effect of ET-1 may contribute to blood pressure elevation and its growth-promoting action to vascular hypertrophy in the hypertensive models which overexpress ET-1 in blood vessels. In rats without generalized activation of the endothelin system, expression of ET-1 is often enhanced in coronary arteries, which suggests a role for ET-1 in myocardial ischemia in hypertension. In rats overexpressing ET-1, ETA/B and ETA-selective antagonists lowered blood pressure slightly, and significantly reduced vascular growth, particularly of small arteries, suggesting that ET-1 has a direct effect on growth. Protection from renal injury and from stroke has also been demonstrated in hypertensive rats treated with endothelin antagonists. In normotensive human subjects endothelin-dependent tone can be shown in the forearm. In a study of mild hypertensive patients, the ETA/B antagonist bosentan reduced blood pressure similarly to an ACE inhibitor. Moderate to severe hypertensive patients presented enhanced expression of ET-1 mRNA in the endothelium of subcutaneous resistance arteries. In blacks with familial hypertension increased plasma levels of endothelin have been found. Thus, ET-1 may play a role in some experimental hypertensive models and in human hypertension. In summary, endothelial ET-1 may be overexpressed in the more severe forms of hypertension, and in certain special populations which may respond particularly well to endothelin antagonism. Endothelin antagonists may prove to be effective disease-modifying agents if in future clinical trials they are shown clinically to blunt vascular growth and endothelial dysfunction, reduce stroke and exert the cardioprotective and renal protective effects already reported in experimental hypertension. These agents could contribute to reduce the long-term complications of hypertension, which remains to be demonstrated in humans.