Immunoreactive atrial natriuretic factor (IR-ANF) in human plasma.

A direct radioimmunoassay for ANF in human plasma was developed. A synthetic alpha-human atrial peptide (Ser 99-Tyr 126) was used for preparation of the iodinated tracer and the standards. The sensitivity of the method is 1.9 pg/ml. Concentration of immunoreactive ANF (IR-ANF) in plasma of 59 clinically normal subjects was 65.3 +/- 2.5 pg/ml (mean +/- SE). In two patients who underwent atrial pacing an increase of about 100 percent in circulating IR-ANF was observed. IR-ANF was extracted from human plasma by Vycor glass and purified by HPLC. The main immunoreactive isolated peak contained a low molecular weight peptide.