Evaluation of plasmatic ANP levels in subjects affected by essential arterial hypertension and in a group of patients undergoing dialysis.
In the first part of this study we selected 24 hypertensive subjects (11 males, 13 females, mean age 55.4 +/- 10.2 years) affected by essential arterial hypertension (EAH). Eleven people (5 males, 6 females, mean age 21.6 +/- 9.5 years) had one or two hypertensive parents. Seventeen subjects (8 males, 9 females, mean age 56.4 +/- 5.9 years) were the control group. Plasmatic ANP was measured using the RIA method, after extracting the peptide on Sep-Pak C18 cartridges. The results show the following ANP values: healthy control subjects 27.6 +/- 8.6 pg/ml; offspring of essentially hypertensive subjects 25.6 +/- 7.7 pg/ml; essentially hypertensive subjects 45.5 +/- 24.9* pg/ml* (P less than 0.005). In the second part of our study, we evaluated the plasma levels of this hormone in a group of subjects undergoing dialysis. The group consisted of 21 subjects (12 males, 9 females, mean age 63.1 +/- 10.5 years), 11 of whom were affected by EAH. ANP evaluation was done during the dialysis after a "long" dialytic interval of three days. Both groups showed a noticeable increase in ANP levels, even if the hypertensive group had overall higher values (254.5 +/- 134.9 pg/ml, vs. 188.7 +/- 113.7 pg/ml). All subjects, after dialysis, had ANP values significantly lower than the initial ones.