Involvement of the central adrenomedullin peptides in the baroreflex.

The peptides derived from post-translational processing of preproadrenomedullin are produced in and act on areas of the autonomic nervous system important for blood pressure regulation. We examined the role of endogenous, brain-derived adrenomedullin (AM) and proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide (PAMP) in the central nervous system arm of the baroreflex by using passive immunoneutralization to block the actions of the endogenous peptides. Our results indicate that the preproadrenomedullin-derived peptides do not play a role in sensing changes in blood pressure (baroreflex sensitivity), but the adrenomedullin peptides do regulate the speed with which an animal returns to a normal, stable blood pressure. These findings suggest that endogenous, brain-derived AM and PAMP participate in the regulation of autonomic activity in response to baroreceptor activation and inactivation.