Inhibition by atrial and brain natriuretic peptides of endothelin-1 secretion after stimulation with angiotensin II and thrombin of cultured human endothelial cells.

We examined the inhibition by atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) of endothelin-1 secretion stimulated by angiotensin II (ANGII) and thrombin using cultured human umbilical-vein endothelial cells. ANGII and thrombin dose-dependently stimulated immunoreactive (ir) endothelin-1 secretion. Human ANP(1-28) and human BNP-32 both inhibited such secretion in a dose-dependent way. Inhibition of this secretion by ANP and BNP was paralleled by an increase in the level of cyclic guanosine 5'-monophosphate (GMP). The addition of a cyclic GMP analogue, 8-bromo cyclic GMP, reduced this stimulated secretion. Rat ANP(5-25) was weaker than human ANP(1-28) at inhibiting ir-endothelin-1 secretion and increasing cyclic GMP in the cells. ir-Endothelin-1 in the medium consisted of two components separated by high pressure liquid chromatography; the major one corresponded to endothelin-1(1-21) and the minor one corresponded to big endothelin-1(1-38). Treatment with ANP and BNP did not affect this profile. These findings suggest that human ANP and BNP inhibit endothelin-1 secretion stimulated by ANGII and thrombin in these cells through a cyclic GMP-dependent process. Taken together with endothelin stimulation of ANP and BNP secretion from the heart, our results suggest the existence of a cardiac-endothelium feedback.