Abstract
Cardiocytes of human atria possess granules similar to those of endocrine glands. These granules contain polypeptides with potent natriuretic and vasorelaxing properties (atrial natriuretic peptide = ANP). The presence of ANP in circulating blood has not yet been demonstrated in human peripheral blood.
Using a specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay, we were able to detect and quantitate ANP in plasma of normal children (n=51) and of children with cardiovascular diseases (n=18). In normal children, the mean ANP plasma concentration was 27.5 fmol/ml (range 1 - 45.5 fmol/ml). There was no significant difference of ANP-levels between infants (n=12) and older children (n=39). However, in patients with cardiovascular diseases such as congenital heart malformations and bronchopulmonary dysplasia, ANP-levels were up to 2o times higher (mean 162.7 fmol/ml; range 37 - 537 fmol/ml) when compared with the mean value in normal children. 15 out of 18 patients exceeded the upper range of ANP-levels in controls. Furthermore, in critically ill children (n=3), ANP-levels were markedly higher at the time of hospital admission (range 92.5 - 266.6 fmol/ml) than after therapy (range 25.8 - 55.1 fmol/ml). In accordance to observations in experimental animals, our findings suggest that atrial distension caused the increased ANP-release in our patients with cardiac diseases. Measurement of ANP-levels may be a useful tool to assess circulatory status in cardiac diseases.
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Weil, J., Bidlingmaier, F., Döhlemann, C. et al. ATRIAL NATRIURETIC PEPTIDE IN CHILDREN — THE HEART AS AN ENDOCRINE ORGAN. Pediatr Res 19, 1073 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198510000-00030
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198510000-00030