Correlation between heart disorders and concentrations of directly measured atrial natriuretic peptide in plasma.

We used new commercially available direct radioimmunoassay to measure human atrial natriuretic peptide (h-ANP) in plasma from 48 individuals who were being evaluated for left and right ventricular function. For 13 healthy individuals with normal ventricular function these concentrations ranged up to 54 ng/L. Measurements of h-ANP clearly differentiated between normal subjects, patients with coronary artery disease, and patients who had undergone orthotopic heart transplantation (ANOVA P less than 0.0001, significant differences between all groups)--all showing normal ventricular function at rest. There was a strong negative correlation (r = -0.64, P less than 0.001) between left ventricular ejection fraction and h-ANP concentrations in plasma of patients with proven coronary artery disease, patients with cardiomyopathy, and healthy individuals. Results by the present method and methods involving extraction of the sample correlated well. Evidently the direct assay of h-ANP in plasma yields information that could be used to help evaluate heart disorders and other pathophysiological conditions causing increased h-ANP concentrations in plasma.