Endothelin-1 in exhaled breath condensate of stable and unstable asthma patients.

Endothelins are proinflammatory, profibrotic, broncho- and vasoconstrictive peptides, which play an important role in the development of airway inflammation and remodeling in asthma. The study was undertaken to evaluate the endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of asthmatics with different degree in asthma severity. EBC was collected from 31 patients with allergic asthma (11 with steroid-naïve mild asthma, 10 with ICS-treated, stable mild-to-moderate asthma, 10 with ICS-treated unstable, severe asthma) and 7 healthy volunteers. In the three groups of asthmatics, ET-1 concentrations in EBC were significantly higher than in healthy volunteers. ET-1 levels were significantly higher in patients with unstable asthma than in the two groups with stable disease. There was a significant correlation between ET-1 levels and FENO in the three groups of asthmatics and between ET-1 and blood eosinophil counts in the group of patients with unstable asthma. Measurements of ET-1 in EBC may provide another useful diagnostic tool for detecting and monitoring inflammation in patients with asthma.