Plasma UrotensinII Level and Degree of Esophageal Varices in Cirrhotic Patients

Objective To explore the relationship between plasma urotensinⅡ(UⅡ) level and the degree of esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients.Methods Totally 62 patients with liver cirrhosis were enrolled,with 23 normal healthy volunteers as the controls,and the plasma UⅡ level and portal vein congestive index(CI) were detected.Then the association of the UⅡ level with degree of esophageal varices and CI was analyzed.Results The plasma UⅡ level and portal vein CI in the cirrhotic patients were significantly higher than those in the normal controls(P0.05).As the esophageal varicosity became severer,the levels of CI and plasma UⅡ also got increased,and there was significant difference among groups with different grades of varicocity(P0.05).The plasma UⅡ concentration was found to be positively correlated with CI(r=0.843,P0.01).Conclusion The plasma UⅡ is of an important role in the formation of portal hypertension in hepatic cirrhosis and it is closely related with formation of esophagus vein varices.