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ABSTRACT: Aims
Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP)-containing amyloid is frequently found in the elderly heart. No data exist regarding ANP aggregation process and its link to pathologies. Our aims were: i) to experimentally prove the presumptive association of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and Isolated Atrial Amyloidosis (IAA); ii) to characterize ANP aggregation, thereby elucidating IAA implication in the CHF pathogenesis.Methods and results
A significant prevalence (85%) of IAA was immunohistochemically proven ex vivo in biopsies from CHF patients. We investigated in vitro (using Congo Red, Thioflavin T, SDS-PAGE, transmission electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy) ANP fibrillogenesis, starting from ?-ANP as well as the ability of dimeric ?-ANP to promote amyloid formation. Different conditions were adopted, including those reproducing ?-ANP prevalence in CHF. Our results defined the uncommon rapidity of ?-ANP self-assembly at acidic pH supporting the hypothesis that such aggregates constitute the onset of a fibrillization process subsequently proceeding at physiological pH. Interestingly, CHF-like conditions induced the production of the most stable and time-resistant ANP fibrils suggesting that CHF affected people may be prone to develop IAA.Conclusions
We established a link between IAA and CHF by ex vivo examination and assessed that ?-ANP is, in vitro, the seed of ANP fibrils. Our results indicate that ?-ANP plays a crucial role in ANP amyloid deposition under physiopathological CHF conditions. Overall, our findings indicate that early IAA-related ANP deposition may occur in CHF and suggest that these latter patients should be monitored for the development of cardiac amyloidosis.
SUBMITTER: Millucci L
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3144199 | biostudies-literature | 2011
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
PloS one 20110726 7
<h4>Aims</h4>Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP)-containing amyloid is frequently found in the elderly heart. No data exist regarding ANP aggregation process and its link to pathologies. Our aims were: i) to experimentally prove the presumptive association of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) and Isolated Atrial Amyloidosis (IAA); ii) to characterize ANP aggregation, thereby elucidating IAA implication in the CHF pathogenesis.<h4>Methods and results</h4>A significant prevalence (85%) of IAA was immuno ...[more]