Atrial Natriuretic Peptide in Kidney of Renal Disease Patients and Healthy Persons

Regulation of renal excretion of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) was studied in kidney disease patients and healthy kidney donors. The measured ANP concentration in the patient's plasma did not correlate with their creatinine clearance (Ccr), while the fractional excretion of ANP (FEANP) significantly correlated with Ccr. FEANP in healthy persons is less than 1%. In the healthy donors of kidneys for transplantation, approximately 80% of the plasma ANP from the renal artery appeared in the renal vein. From these results, this high recovery of ANP in the veins does not appear to be adequately explained by its degradation in the renal arterioles and nephrons. The FEANP from kidney disease patients significantly correlated with FENa, FEK and FEp, but not with FEca and FEMg. The manner of ANP handling in the nephron may possibly differ from that of Ca or Mg.