0bjective To explore the effect of endothelin(ET)、nitrioxide (NO) in plasma on retinopathv in the pregnancy-induced hypertension(PIH)． Methods The 1evel of ET and NO in plasma of 75 cases of in-patient women with PIH and 20 cases of women with the full terms and normal pregnancy before and after delivery was determined by radioimmunoassay．The retinopathy of the patients with FIH before and after delivery was detected by appointed doctor．The levels of ET and N0 in both groups were compared and the relationship between ET and N0 in plasma and the retinopathy before and after the delivery was detected.Results The levels of ET[(145．oo±54.41)ng／L] in serious PIH patients were much higher than that in the control[(81．50±43．80)ng／L]，the minor[(85.30±33.33)ng／L]and middling PIH group[(90．20±39．25)ng／L]．The levels of ET in plasma before and after pregnancy were not changed in PIH patients [(118．70±33．44)ng／L]，but were higher than that in the control group. The levels of plasma NO in serious[(87．56±35．58)ng／L]and middling[(78.11±28.96)ng／L] PIH group were both higher than that in the control group[(46．70±32.64)ng/L]，and the levels in minor(52．56±28．35)ng／L]and middling PIH group were lower than that in the serious PIH group.The level of N0 in plasma of PIH patients after the delivery was much lower than that before the delivery，while higher than that in the control．The positive correlation between levels of ET and NO and retinopathy was found in PIH patients.Conclusions The 1evels of plasma ET and N0 in PIH patients are related to the extent of the disease，and the level of ET in plasma is highly related to the retinopathy in PIH patients, ET and NO might be played an important role in pathogenesis of retinopathy and ET might be a good index in reflecting the rank of retinopathy in PIH.(Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis，2004，20：12-15)