ABSTRACT
Pepsanurin is a peptidic fraction resulting from pepsin digestion of plasma globulins, that inhibits ANP renal excretory actions. We studied whether kinin-like peptides mediate the anti-ANP effect by testing if pepsanurin: 1) was blocked by the kinin B12 receptor antagonist HOE-140, 2) was produced from kininogen, and 3) was mimicked by bradykinin. Anti-ANP activity was assessed in anesthetized female rats by comparing the excretory response to two ANP boluses (0.5 mug iv) given before and after ip injection of test samples. Pepsanurin from human or rat plasma (1-5 mL/Kg), and bradykinin (5-20 mug/Kg), dose-relatedly inhibited ANP-induced water, sodium, potassium and cyclic GMP urinary excretion, without affecting arterial blood pressure. The same effect was exerted by pepsin hydrolysates of purified kininogen, whereas hydrolysates of kininogen-free plasma had no effect. HOE-140 (5 mug, iv) did not alter baseline, or ANP-induced excretion, but blocked the anti-ANP effects of pepsanurin. Histamine (15 mug/Kg) plus seroalbumin hydrolysates did not affect ANP response, despite inducing larger peritoneal fluid accumulation as compared with pepsanurin or bradykinin. We concluded that kinins cleaved from kininogen mediate the anti-ANP effects of pepsanurin by activation of kinin B2 receptors, independently of changes in systemic arterial pressure or peritoneal fluid sequestration.