Studies in rats and rabbits showed an increase in ET1 expression immediately after ischaemia (Viossat et al., 1993; Barone et al., 1994; Bian et al., 1994), and ET1 level rose in the plasma and CSF in the early stages of ischaemic stroke in human patients (Ziv et al., 1992; Lampl et al., 1997). Here, EDN1 is linked to ischemic stroke.