Effects of dietary calcium on atrial natriuretic factor release from isolated rat atria

Previous studies have shown that acute calcium load causes an increase in circulating plasma atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) levels. The present study was conducted to examine the effect of high dietary calcium on ANF release. Experiments were performed on two groups of male Wistar rats. Hypercalcemic (n = 12) and normocalcemic (n = 12) animals were placed on a high and normal calcium diet, respectively, for 14 days before study. A 24-hour renal clearance was conducted on all animals before superfusion studies. Clearance results showed that high dietary calcium induced a significant increase in plasma calcium (2.69 +/- 0.02 v 2.90 +/- 0.77 mmol/L; P less than .01). This elevation is plasma calcium was associated with a marked increase in calcium excretion (fractional excretion of calcium, 1.91% +/- 0.33% v 8.17% +/- 0.11%, and was correlated with a significant increase in plasma ANF levels (97 +/- 6 v 167 +/- 20 pg/mL). We also measured immunoreactive ANF in the atria of hypercalcemic and normocalcemic rats. ANF content and concentration in the atria were lower in hypercalcemic (465 +/- 36 ng/mg) than in normocalcemic rats (635 +/- 30 ng/mg). This implies that ANF secretion is stimulated by hypercalcemia. To examine this directly, the right atrium from hypercalcemic and normocalcemic rats was superfused in a modified Langendorff preparation. Spontaneous release of ANF from the isolated right atria of hypercalcemic animals (19 +/- 0.8 pg/min/mg) was significantly higher (P less than .01) than from the normocalcemic rats (8.6 +/- 0.3 pg/min/mg). These results suggest that elevation of plasma ANF levels in hypercalcemia is due to an increase in ANF secretion.