Effects of atrial natriuretic peptide on adrenergically induced norepinephrine release and vasoconstriction in the dog kidney

The effects of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) on the neural control of renal blood flow were examined in anesthetized dogs. Intrarenal arterial infusion of ANP (alpha-hANP, 10 and 50 ng/kg per min) suppressed the decrease in renal blood flow but not the increase in renal venous plasma norepinephrine concentration induced by renal nerve stimulation (1 and 2 Hz, for 1 min). ANP also attenuated the blood flow response to intrarenal arterial injection of methoxamine (5-20 micrograms). These results suggest that ANP acts at a postsynaptic site to suppress adrenergically induced vasoconstriction in the dog kidney.