title: Consistent changes in the circadian rhythms of blood pressure and atrial natriuretic peptide in congestive heart failure.
abstract: We demonstrated in previous works that the circadian rhythms of blood pressure (BP) and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) are antiphasic in normal subjects and in essential hypertension. The aim of the present study was to assess the circadian rhythms of BP and ANP in 20 patients with stable congestive heart failure (CHF), divided into two groups of 10 according to their New York Heart Association functional class. A matched control group of 10 normal volunteers was also studied. Noninvasive BP monitoring at 15-min intervals was performed for 24 h. Peripheral blood samples were also obtained at 4-h intervals starting from 08:00 h. The mean (+/- SEM) circadian mesors of ANP plasma levels were 13.4 +/- 1.7 pmol/L in the control group, 28.6 +/- 2.4 pmol/L in the group of 10 patients in class II, and 81.5 +/- 12 pmol/L in the group of 10 patients in class III-IV. In normal subjects, plasma ANP concentration was highest at 04:00 h (21.5 +/- 2.7 pmol/L) and lowest at 16:00 h (8.8 +/- 2.4 pmol/L; p less than 0.01). Both groups of patients with CHF showed no significant circadian change in the plasma levels of ANP and also a significantly blunted circadian rhythm of BP. Cosinor analysis confirmed the loss of the circadian rhythms of ANP and BP in CHF patients. Our findings support the existence of a causal relationship between the circadian rhythms of ANP and BP.
authors.affiliation: Chair of Internal Medicine, University of Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Portaluppi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Montanari
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferlini
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vergnani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Ambrosi
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Cavallini
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bagni
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: degli Uberti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor / Q000097:blood; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor