Plasma levels of adrenomedullin, a newly identified hypotensive peptide, in patients with orthotopic heart transplantation

Journal of Clinical and Basic Cardiology 2000; 3 (3): 177-180

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Keywords: adrenomedullin,  Herztransplantation,  Hypertonie,  adrenomedullin,  heart transplantation,  hypertension

The present study was designed to measure plasma levels of the newly identified vasorelaxant peptide adrenomedullin (AM) in heart transplanted patients and to investigate the hypothetical relationships between plasma AM and some haemodynamic and humoral parameters. Plasma AM was measured in 16 patients who underwent an orthotopic heart transplantation more than 6 months before. Eleven out of 16 (68.7 %) patients after cardiac transplantation were hypertensives. The control group included 21 normotensive healthy subjects and 15 patients with essential hypertension (WHO stage 1). In all transplanted patients mean AM plasma level was 23.7 ± 8.6 pg/ml, 73 % higher than in normotensive control subjects (13.7 ± 6.1 pg/ml, p < 0.05). In patients with essential hypertension AM plasma levels were higher (22.7 ± 8.2 pg/ml) with respect to normal subjects (p < 0.05), but the difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05) if compared with that measured in transplanted patients. In this series of cardiac transplant recipients AM plasma levels were 24 % higher in hypertensive transplant recipients (25.5 ± 9.7 pg/ml) than in normotensive transplant recipients (20.5 ± 4.4 pg/ml, p < 0.05). AM plasma levels did not correlate with blood pressure, heart rate or cyclosporine plasma levels. The present study shows that AM plasma levels were significantly higher in cardiac transplant recipients and in particular in those with hypertension. J Clin Basic Cardiol 2000; 3: 177-80.