Atrial natriuretic peptide, nitroglycerine, and nitroprusside reduce basal and stimulated endothelin production from cultured endothelial cells.

Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and the nitrovasodilator drugs nitroglycerine and nitroprusside were shown here to decrease both basal and thrombin stimulated production of endothelin-1 (ET-1) from cultured human endothelial cells as measured by radioimmunoassay. 8-Bromo-3',5'-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and papaverine also inhibited ET-1 production. The inhibitory effect of ANP and nitrovasodilators on ET-1 production thus appears to be mediated by guanylate cyclase and cGMP. Part of the vasodilatory action of ANP, nitroprusside and nitroglycerine may be due to suppression of endothelial ET-1 production. This may be an additional mechanism whereby nitrovasodilators participate in the regulation of vascular tone.