To examine the interrelationship between human atrial natriuretic
polypeptide (hANP) and cyclic 3'5'-guanosine monophosphate (
cyclic GMP), plasma concentrations of these compounds were determined in 61 disease-free humans, as controls, and in 35 patients with
congestive heart failure. Levels of plasma hANP (199.6 +/- 53.7 pg/ml) and
cyclic GMP (12.6 +/- 1.7 pmol/ml) in patients with
congestive heart failure were significantly higher than in the control subjects (hANP 57.1 +/- 2.8 pg/ml,
cyclic GMP 5.2 +/- 0.3 pmol/ml). Although plasma hANP concentrations in the patients with
congestive heart failure tended to increase with the severity of cardiac dysfunction, there was no significant correlation between the levels of plasma hANP and the grade of
heart failure, classified according to the New York Heart Association. However, a significant correlation was found between plasma hANP and
cyclic GMP concentrations in both the healthy subjects and the patients with
congestive heart failure, and a weak positive correlation between plasma hANP and cyclic 3'5'-adenosine monophosphate (
cyclic AMP) concentration in the patients with
congestive heart failure. Thus, changes in plasma
cyclic GMP concentration depend to some extent on the plasma concentrations of hANP.