Objective To study mechanism and clinical meaning of endothelin(ET) and neuron specific enolase (NSE) in patients with acute stroke.Methods The contents of ET and NSE in blood and cerebrospinal fluid were measured by RIA in patients with acute stroke, and correlation analysis of the contents of ET and NSE with different lesion area,severe degree and different period of the disease was performed.Results The contents of ET and NSE in acute cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral infarction groups were significantly higher than those in control group ( P