Pulmonary vasorelaxant activity of atrial natriuretic peptide and brain natriuretic peptide in humans

What Was Tested

This controlled clinical trial looks at BNP (Nesiritide) and ANP (Atrial Natriuretic Peptide).

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) exhibit in vitro pulmonary vasodilator activity, but little information is available regarding their effects in the human pulmonary vasculature.

Their effects in the human pulmonary circulation and their ability to modulate the pulmonary pressor effects of angiotensin II have therefore been evaluated.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, men only.

Pulmonary haemodynamics were measured by pulsed wave Doppler echocardiography at baseline (T0), before commencing angiotensin II (T30), and at the end of the infusion period (T60).

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a placebo-controlled study.

Some participants received a placebo instead of BNP (Nesiritide), giving a reference point.

Infusions of either ANP, BNP, or placebo were given for 60 minutes with a concomitant infusion of angiotensin II given for the final 30 minutes.

What Was Measured

Their effects in the human pulmonary circulation and their ability to modulate the pulmonary pressor effects of angiotensin II have therefore been evaluated.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Angiotensin II, Atrial Natriuretic Factor, Hemodynamics, Natriuretic Peptide, Brain, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Pulmonary Circulation and Vasodilator Agents.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a placebo-controlled study of BNP (Nesiritide) and ANP (Atrial Natriuretic Peptide).

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 4 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 1995 (Thorax), a journal based in England.

More context: the BNP (Nesiritide) compound page and the ANP (Atrial Natriuretic Peptide) compound page, all human trials.