The natriuretic peptide family.

The natriuretic peptide system is a complicated system comprising at least three endogenous peptides, atrial natriuretic peptide, brain natriuretic peptide, and C-type natriuretic peptide and three receptors, the atrial natriuretic peptide-A receptor (guanylyl cyclase A), the atrial natriuretic peptide-B receptor (guanylyl cyclase B), and the clearance receptor. The accumulated evidence indicates that this system is implicated in the control of blood pressure, body fluid homeostasis, and vascular remodeling as both cardiac hormone and local regulator.