Lee Y J, Lin S R, Shin S J, Lai Y H, Lin Y T, Tsai J H
Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan, Republic of China.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1994 Nov;79(5):1476-82. doi: 10.1210/jcem.79.5.7962346.
The present study was designed to determine whether brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is synthesized in the human adrenal gland and, if so, to investigate the BNP content of adrenal tissue and the changes in BNP messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) in patients with primary aldosteronism. A considerable amount of BNP-like immunoreactive substances was extracted from the adrenal glands of kidney donors for transplantation (0.21 +/- 0.02 pmol/g wet tissue; n = 3) and the remnant nontumorous adrenal glands of patients with primary aldosteronism (0.20 +/- 0.05 pmol/g wet tissue; n = 3; mean +/- SEM). Immunohistochemical study with a specific antihuman BNP antibody revealed that BNP-like immunoreactivity was localized in the adrenal medullary area, and an in situ hybridization study indicated that the BNP mRNA was mainly expressed in the cells of adrenal medulla. Using a reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction technique, BNP complementary DNA was cloned from the human adrenal gland, and the sequence was identical to that of BNP identified in the atria. The level of BNP mRNA in the adrenal glands of patients with primary aldosteronism (n = 4) was obviously elevated compared to that in the kidney donors (n = 4), as determined by Northern blot analysis. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction measurements of BNP and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) mRNAs showed that both of the adrenomedullary natriuretic peptide gene transcriptions were enhanced in patients with primary aldosteronism, but the amount of ANP mRNA was far higher than that of BNP mRNA in the human adrenal gland. Our results are the first to indicate that BNP is synthesized in the human adrenal medulla, and that such medullary BNP synthesis increases in patients with primary aldosteronism. These facts support the proposal that adrenomedullary BNP along with ANP may play some role in water and electrolyte homeostasis or act in a paracrine manner to regulate adrenocortical functions.
本研究旨在确定人脑钠肽（BNP）是否在肾上腺合成，若如此，则研究肾上腺组织中的BNP含量以及原发性醛固酮增多症患者脑钠肽信使核糖核酸（mRNA）的变化。从用于移植的肾供体的肾上腺（0.21±0.02 pmol/g湿组织；n = 3）以及原发性醛固酮增多症患者残留的非肿瘤性肾上腺（0.20±0.05 pmol/g湿组织；n = 3；平均值±标准误）中提取了大量的BNP样免疫反应性物质。用特异性抗人BNP抗体进行的免疫组织化学研究表明，BNP样免疫反应性定位于肾上腺髓质区域，原位杂交研究表明BNP mRNA主要在肾上腺髓质细胞中表达。使用逆转录和聚合酶链反应技术，从人肾上腺中克隆出BNP互补DNA，其序列与在心房中鉴定出的BNP序列相同。通过Northern印迹分析确定，原发性醛固酮增多症患者（n = 4）肾上腺中的BNP mRNA水平明显高于肾供体（n = 4）。对BNP和心房利钠肽（ANP）mRNA的定量聚合酶链反应测量表明，原发性醛固酮增多症患者肾上腺髓质利钠肽基因的转录均增强，但在人肾上腺中，ANP mRNA的量远高于BNP mRNA。我们的结果首次表明BNP在人肾上腺髓质中合成，并且在原发性醛固酮增多症患者中这种髓质BNP合成增加。这些事实支持了肾上腺髓质BNP与ANP可能在水和电解质稳态中发挥某种作用或以旁分泌方式调节肾上腺皮质功能的观点。
