Raised concentrations of plasma atrial natriuretic peptides in cardiac transplant recipients.

Plasma atrial natriuretic peptide concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay six to 77 weeks after operation in eight cardiac transplant recipients with no appreciable evidence of cardiac failure or rejection and in eight control subjects matched for age, sex, race, and blood pressure. Plasma atrial natriuretic peptide concentrations were significantly higher in the cardiac transplant recipients (mean 19.4 (SE 3.9) ng/l) than in the controls (7.3 (1.2) ng/l p less than 0.01). The mechanisms underlying these raised values were not clear. These findings suggest that the transplanted atria may secrete atrial peptides and also that innervation is not obligatory for secretion of atrial natriuretic peptides to occur. Before this can be confirmed, however, it remains to be established what the relative contribution of donor and recipient atrial tissue is to the secretion of these peptides.