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Atrial Natriuretic Factor Is Detectable in Human Cerebrospinal Fluid^*

Department of Medicine and the Neuroendocrinology Research Laboratory, Long Beach Veterans Hospital and the University of California, Irvine California College of Medicine Irvine, California 92717

Address requests for reprints to: Medical Service (111), Dr. Ellis R. Levin, Veterans Administration Medical Center, 5901 East Seventh Street, Long Beach, California 90822.

To determine whether atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) is detectable in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), I measured ANF in CSF samples obtained from subjects undergoing myelography for various neurological disorders. Immunoreactive ANF, measured by RIA, ranged from undetectable (<9.7) to 36 pmol/L. All measurable samples diluted in parallel in the RIA. Reverse phase high pressure liquid chromatography and subsequent RIA confirmed the presence of ANF, with most of the immunoreactivity eluting at the position of standard human ANF-(99–126). Simultaneous plasma ANF levels were measured in most individuals and the plasma concentrations were less than those in CSF; most of the immunoreactivity in plasma also eluted at the position of human ANF-(99–126). Thus, ANF is present in CSF in substantial amounts in some subjects with neurological disorders. Further, the CSF levels exceeded the circulating plasma ANF levels in most subjects. These results suggest that ANF in CSF is at least partially derived from production in the brain and/or is concentrated in the CSF.

^* This work was supported by a merit review grant from the Research Service of the V.A. and a grant from the Medical Research and Education Society of the University of California, Irvine.

Received September 29, 1987.

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