TY - JOUR T1 - Does endothelin-1 reduce superior mesenteric artery blood flow velocity in preterm neonates? JF - Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition JO - Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed SP - F123 LP - F127 DO - 10.1136/fn.80.2.F123 VL - 80 IS - 2 AU - Fiona J Weir AU - Arne Ohlsson AU - Katherine Fong AU - Kofi Amankwah AU - Flavio Coceani Y1 - 1999/03/01 UR - http://fn.bmj.com/content/80/2/F123.abstract N2 - AIM To compare plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) concentrations in preterm neonates from pre-eclamptic and normal mothers; and to evaluate whether ET-1 has a role in altered arterial blood flow velocity. METHODS Umbilical arterial blood and neonatal arterial blood were sampled on days 1 and 3 for gas analysis and measurement of plasma ET-1. Doppler ultrasonography of the middle cerebral, renal, and superior mesenteric arteries (SMA) was performed. RESULTS Neonates in the pre-eclampsia (n=18) and control (n=18) groups had mean (SD) gestational ages of 31.1 (2.5) weeks and 30.4 (2.1) weeks; their birthweights were 1432 (SD 676) g and 1692 (SD 500) g, respectively. In the pre-eclampsia group mean umbilical arterial PO2 was lower—1.88 (0.75) kPa compared with 3.27 (1.41) kPa (p < 0.01)—and mean plasma ET-1 concentration was higher in the umbilical artery—40.6 (SD 15.0) compared with 30.5 (SD 13.8) pg/ml (p=0.04) and day 1 blood—54.9 (35.0) pg/ml compared with 33.6 (14.6) pg/ml (p=0.03). Middle cerebral artery peak systolic velocity was higher and SMA time averaged, peak systolic, and mean peak velocities were lower in the pre-eclampsia group. SMA time averaged velocity was inversely related to plasma ET-1 concentration. CONCLUSION The association between increased production of ET-1 and reduction in SMA time averaged velocity suggests a possible mechanism for hypoperfusion of the intestinal wall in neonates. ER -