Circulating atrial natriuretic polypeptide in essential hypertension.

To investigate the significance of atrial natriuretic polypeptide (ANP) in essential hypertension, we measured plasma ANP concentrations in 43 subjects with essential hypertension uncomplicated by cardiac or renal failure, in 16 subjects with borderline hypertension, and in 17 normotensive control subjects. Plasma ANP levels were significantly higher in hypertensive subjects compared to borderline hypertensive subjects (p less than 0.05) and normotensive control subjects (p less than 0.05). Hypertensive subjects with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) had higher plasma ANP levels than the hypertensive group as a whole (p less than 0.05). A significant positive correlation was observed between mean blood pressure and plasma ANP level in the hypertensive group (n = 43, gamma = 0.77, p less than 0.01). Furthermore, plasma ANP level was decreased significantly after 4 weeks of effective antihypertensive therapy compared with the initial value (p less than 0.05). These results suggest that plasma ANP is frequently elevated in hypertensive subjects with markedly high blood pressure or LVH, and it can be reduced by effective therapy with antihypertensive drugs.