POSSIBLE REGULATION OF INTRACRANIAL-PRESSURE BY HUMAN ATRIAL-NATRIURETIC-PEPTIDE IN CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID

To clarify the function of human atrial natriuretic peptide (hANP) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), we examined hANP levels in the CSF of p atients with various neurological diseases. The subjects were 16 contr ols without neurological disease and 45 patients with neurological dis ease. The 45 patients with neurological disease were divided into a gr oup of 15 patients with intracranial hypertension (IH) and a group of 30 patients with normal pressure (NP). hANP in both CSF (1-hANP) and s erum (s-hANP) was measured by RIA. Patients with IH were followed up. We analyzed correlations between 1-hANP and other parameters of CSF. I ncrease in concentration of 1-hANP was positively correlated with intr acranial pressure (ICP; r = 0.72; p < 0.01), but not with other CSF pa rameters or with s-hANP. The concentration of 1-hANP appeared to be in creased especially over a threshold value of ICP. In a followup study of patients with IH, changes in 1-hANP paralleled changes in ICP in ev ery case (r = 0.79; p < 0.01). Our findings strongly suggest that 1-hA NP plays an important role in the regulation of ICP in humans.