Atrial natriuretic peptide decreases aorta stiffness in cholesterol-fed anesthetized rabbits.

Aortas from Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbits show in vitro impaired vasodilatory response to atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) during atherosclerosis progression. To test a similar reaction in vivo, the effect of ANP administration on pulse wave velocity (PWV, index of aorta stiffness) was investigated in 10 normal and 10 cholesterol-fed (2% cholesterol-loaded feeding for 4 weeks) anesthetized male New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. Invasively taken carotid and femoral blood pressures (BP) were recorded, simultaneously with ECG, and blood samples for ANP measurement (by RIA) were taken at 0 min and 20, 40, 60 min following an intravenous 20-min administration of either 0.