Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Its has been suggested that atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) may contribuye to the development of microalbuminuria in diabetes mellitus.

Plasma ANP concentration have been reported to be elevated in association with microalbuminuria, all of wich predict the future development of overt nephropathy in diabetes (1).

Key players in neurohormonal activation include neuropeptides and their receptors wich include the ANP (2).

Targeting neuropeptides and their signalling pathways might thus serve as new therapeutic interventions in the treatment of complication associated with diabetes.

In addition, the magnitude of the albuminuric response to ANP is greater in diabetic subjects than in healthy volunteers, suggesting increased renal sensivity to the albuminuric action of ANP (3).

Materials and methods: We performed a study of 16 diabetic patients, 10 women and 6 men, aged 37.4±16.2 years (range 17 to 61) and an evolution of diabetes of 13.6±7.7 years. Of the total group 11 were diabetic type 1 and 5 were type 2 diabetics. In the group only 12% of patients had with any degree of renal lesion and 56% did not had any vascular complication. Microangiopathy was defined as the presence of renal, ocular or neuropathic disease- The determination of ANP levels was performed by RIA.

Results: In our group, with a low incidence of nephropathy, we found no differences in the levels of ANP between patients with and without microvascular disease (anp 20.12±18.69 pg/ml vs 9.24±5.29, P=0.12 (ns).

Conclusion: -The presence of renal hyperfiltration, increased albumin permeability and target organ damage may determine the elevation of ANP in diabetes, therefore in our group, with low incidence of nephropathy, did not show a clear increase in the levels of this neuropeptide.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.