Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Middle Renmin Road, No. 139, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.
Med Hypotheses. 2011 Nov;77(5):832-3. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2011.07.048.
Allergic asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of airway and immune disorder is an acknowledged mechanism. Numerous data demonstrate Th1/Th2 cells play an important role in the development of allergic asthma. Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is a multifunctional hormone secreted by cardiac atria, lung, and so forth, which has been recognized for several decades due to its general effects on cardiovascular system, and natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPRA) is the major effecting receptor for ANP. In recent years, more and more studies suggest that ANP/NPRA signaling pathway is implicated in modulation of immnue and inflammatory reaction. Moreover, there are some reports about significant changes of ANP production in peripheral blood from asthmatics in acute exacerbation compared with patients during the remission and the healthy. Nevertheless, it is unknown that why ANP shows an observable change and what role ANP plays in asthma until now. We propose that ANP/NPRA signaling pathway is involved in immune dysfunction and airway inflammation of allergic asthma based on our experimental results, which suggests ANP/NPRA signaling pathway may be a potential therapeutic target for allergic asthma.
变应性哮喘是一种气道慢性炎症性疾病，免疫紊乱是其公认的发病机制。大量资料表明 Th1/Th2 细胞在变应性哮喘的发生发展中起重要作用。心钠肽（ANP）是由心房、肺等分泌的一种多功能激素，几十年来由于其对心血管系统的普遍作用而被人们所认识，而钠尿肽受体 A（NPRA）是 ANP 的主要作用受体。近年来，越来越多的研究表明，ANP/NPRA 信号通路参与免疫和炎症反应的调节。此外，有一些报道称，与缓解期和健康人群相比，哮喘急性加重患者外周血中 ANP 的产生有明显变化。然而，到目前为止，还不知道为什么 ANP 会发生如此明显的变化，以及 ANP 在哮喘中扮演什么角色。基于我们的实验结果，我们提出 ANP/NPRA 信号通路参与变应性哮喘的免疫功能障碍和气道炎症，这表明 ANP/NPRA 信号通路可能是变应性哮喘的潜在治疗靶点。
