Correlation Study Of Rho Kinase On Pulmonary Hypertension In Children With Left To Right Shunt Congenital Heart Disease

Objective To investigate the relationship between serum Rho kinase and pulmonary artery pressure in children with congenital heart disease.Methods Sixty-nine children with CHD,including 36 children who had no pulmonary arterial hypertension(PAH)and 33 children who had PAH,as well as 30 age-matched heathy children in clinic service were studied.The levels of serum Rho kinase,ET-1 and NO were detected by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,radioactive-immunization method and nitric acid-restored method,respectively.Results The levels of serum Rho kinase and ET-1 in children with CHD[(34.04±8.60)pmol/L and(70.62±20.97)ng/L]were significantly higher than those in control group[(18.90±3.07)pmol/L and(44.61±3.88)ng/L].Yet serum NO level(52.34±11.33)?mol/L was lower as compared with the control(69.01±8.40)?mol/L.The levels of serums Rho kinase and ET-1 in CHD children with PAH[(39.81±8.42)pmol/L and(88.30±14.15)ng/L]were significantly increased,compared with CHD children without PAH[(28.27±3.30)pmol/L and(52.93±6.86)ng/L].The level of serum NO in CHD children with PAH(43.94±6.39)?mol/L was significantly lower than in without PAH(60.74±8.61)?mol/L.Serum Rho kinase and ET-1 concentration were positively related to pulmonary arterial pressure(r=0.730;0.888,P<0.01),whereas serum NO concentration was negatively related to the level of pulmonary arterial pressure(r=-0.673,P<0.01)and serum Rho kinase and ET-1 concentration were also negatively associated with serum NO concentration(r=-0.519;-0.565,P<0.01).Conclusion The expression level of Rho kinase in left to right shunt CHD children increased,and it was positively correlated with pulmonary artery systolic pressure,Among them,the expression level of Rho kinase was higher in CHD children with PAH.Elevated expression Rho kinase may play an important role in the progression of pulmonary artery hypertension associated with congenital heart disease.