Kido, Shinsuke, Naoyuki Hasebe, Yoshinao Ishii, and Kenjiro Kikuchi. Tachycardia-induced myocardial ischemia and diastolic dysfunction potentiate secretion of ANP, not BNP, in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 290: H1064 -H1070, 2006. First published September 19, 2005 doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00110.2005.-The aim of this study was to investigate what factor determines tachycardia-induced secretion of atrial and brain natriuretic peptides (ANP and BNP, respectively) in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). HCM patients with normal left ventricular (LV) systolic function and intact coronary artery (n ϭ 22) underwent rapid atrial pacing test. The cardiac secretion of ANP and BNP and the lactate extraction ratio (LER) were evaluated by using blood samples from the coronary sinus and aorta. LV end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) and the time constant of LV relaxation of tau were measured by a catheter-tip transducer. These parameters were compared with normal controls (n ϭ 8). HCM patients were divided into obstructive (HOCM) and nonobstructive (HNCM) groups. The cardiac secretion of ANP was significantly increased by rapid pacing in HOCM from 384 Ϯ 101 to 1,268 Ϯ 334 pg/ml (P Ͻ 0.05); however, it was not significant in control and HNCM groups. In contrast, the cardiac secretion of BNP was fairly constant and rather significantly decreased in HCM (P Ͻ 0.01). The cardiac ANP secretion was significantly correlated with changes in LER (r ϭ Ϫ0.57, P Ͻ 0.01) and tau (r ϭ 0.73, P Ͻ 0.001) in HCM patients. Tachycardia potentiates the cardiac secretion of ANP, not BNP, in patients with HCM, particularly when it induces myocardial ischemia and LV diastolic dysfunction. left ventricular outflow tract obstruction; lactate extraction ratio; left ventricular diastolic function; cardiac event; atrial and brain natriuretic peptides THE CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE of natriuretic peptides has been widely accepted in the management of heart failure. The plasma levels of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) correlate well with the clinical severity of heart failure and hypertrophy (2,8,14). BNP is secreted mainly from the ventricle, whereas atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is produced and secreted not only from the atrium but from the ventricle in the hypertrophied heart (4, 23, 32). ANP synthesis is also enhanced in patients with heart failure (21, 36); however, the plasma ANP levels fluctuate more easily compared with BNP levels.The plasma levels of natriuretic peptides have been reported to be increased despite the intact contractile function of the left ventricle (LV) in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). The hypertrophied heart is prone to complicate with diastolic dysfunction (35). Tachycardia induces heart failure in patients with hypertrophied LV because diastolic dysfunction can be aggravated by shortening of diastolic phase (1,12,31). Tachycardia is also prone to induce myocardial ischemia even in HCM with angiographically normal coronary arteries. Although rapid pacing linearly increases coro...