Abstract
To investigate the relation between alpha human atrial natriuretic peptide (α-hANP) and hemodynamics in chronic renal failure (CRF), we measured α-hANP, catecholamines (CA), aldosterone, and plasma renin activity (PRA) in the plasma of 29 hemodialysis patients and 20 age-matched normal controls.
Plasma α-hANP level was much higher in CRF patients than in controls. Plasma CA level was significantly higher in hemodialysis patients than in controls (P<0.02).
There was a significant positive correlation between plasma α-hANP and CA (r=0.55, P<0.01). The plasma concentration of α-hANP was significantly correlated with systolic blood pressure (r=0.53, P<0.01).
In hemodialysbis patients, plasma α-hANP showed a significant positive correlation with weight gain during the interval between two consecutive hemodialyses (r=0.62, P<0.01).
These findings suggest that α-hANP may be relevant to plasma CA levels, and that the excess of extracellular fluid may play a major role in the elevation of plasma α-hANP in hemodialysis patients.
