Increased Urinary Endothelin-1 -Like Immunoreactivity Excretion in NIDDM Patients With Albuminuria

OBJECTIVE To determine the urinary endothelin-1-like immunoreactivity (ET- 1-LI) in non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) patients and toinvestigate whether urinary ET-l-LI excretion is elevated in patients with albuminuria. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Urinary ET-l-LI substance was determined byradioimmunoassay in 45 normoalbuminuric and 28 albuminuric NIDDM patients. RESULTS The mean amounts of 24-h ET-1 -LI excretion in NIDDM patients with normoalbuminuria and albuminuria were 154.9 ± 13.5 and 174.4 ± 12.9 ng/day, respectively. The latter was significantly higher thanthat of the 40 normal control subjects (111.8 ± 7.9 ng/day, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The increase in urinary ET-l-LI substance excretion in patients with albuminuria suggests that ET-1 may be a pathogenetic factor in diabetic nephropathy.