Commentary Natriuretic peptides: are these new links in the hepatorenal connections? In 1981, de Bold et al' discovered that the heart produced a peptide factor, subsequently named atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), with potent actions affecting sodium metabolism and blood pressure. Since then, other related peptides, first brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), and more recently C type natriuretic pe...

Since the 1950s when granules were first observed histologically within the atrial wall there has been intense interest in their function. Two early key papers were those of Marie et al' and de Bold,2 who showed that the granulation was related to the water/electrolyte balance, although a first time reader's starting point should be the meticulous histological investigation of Jamieson and Pala...

Estrogen is considered a major regulator of adipose tissue in females. Estrogen increases circulating levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), a hormone with renal and cardiovascular effects. The aim of this study was to determine the status of the natriuretic peptide system in female follitropin-receptor knockout (FORKO) mice that could be associated with obesity and hypertension observed i...

Endopeptidase-24.11 (E-24. 11, EC 3.4.24.11) is widely believed to play a physiological role in metabolizing atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP). Since the discovery of ANP, new natriuretic peptides have been isolated and other peptides synthesized as receptor ligands. The hydrolysis in vitro of six related peptides by the endopeptidase has been studied, mainly by h.p.l.c. The initial attack on th...

PURPOSE The family of natriuretic peptides (NPs); atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) as well as three associated receptors (NPRs); natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPR-A), natriuretic peptide receptor B (NPR-B), and natriuretic peptide receptor C (NPR-C) has never been documented in human lens epithelial cells. The study descri...

Natriuretic peptides and nitric oxide play important roles in cardiovascular and renal physiology and disease. The natriuretic peptides - atrial natriuretic peptide, brain natriuretic peptide, and C-type natriuretic peptide - comprise a family of proteins that participate in the integrated control of intravascular volume and arterial blood pressure. The natriuretic peptides differentially bind ...

Historical perspective A series of experiments done in the mid 1950s established the heart as an endocrine organ. First, Kisch and colleagues detected secretory granules in guineapig atria. Henry and Pearce subsequently described increased urinary flow after balloon stretch of the canine left atrium. In an experiment done 25 years later, de Bold injected homogenised atrial tissue into rats and ...