Discovering a new role for the atrial natriuretic peptide: A novel risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

Atrial natriuretic peptide, a diuretic, natriuretic and vasorelaxant hormone, is also involved in the regulation of cardiovascular remodeling and it has been recently shown to be significantly associated with higher occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. In fact, high plasma ANP levels predict higher mortality rate for cardiovascular events. Moreover, ANP gene alterations are associated with higher risk of cardiovascular intermediate phenotypes, such as left ventricular hypertrophy, and of cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke and hypertension. Thus, the characterization of ANP plasma levels, and of ANP genotype for known mutations can be proposed as an informative component of the individual cardiovascular risk profile.