Atrial natriuretic peptide/natriuretic peptide receptor A (ANP/NPRA) signaling pathway: a potential therapeutic target for allergic asthma

Allergic asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of airway and immune disorder is an acknowledged mechanism. Numerous data demonstrate Th1/Th2 cells play an important role in the development of allergic asthma. Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) is a multifunctional hormone secreted by cardiac atria, lung, and so forth, which has been recognized for several decades due to its general effects on cardiovascular system, and natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPRA) is the major effecting receptor for ANP. In recent years, more and more studies suggest that ANP/NPRA signaling pathway is implicated in modulation of immnue and inflammatory reaction. Moreover, there are some reports about significant changes of ANP production in peripheral blood from asthmatics in acute exacerbation compared with patients during the remission and the healthy. Nevertheless, it is unknown that why ANP shows an observable change and what role ANP plays in asthma until now. We propose that ANP/NPRA signaling pathway is involved in immune dysfunction and airway inflammation of allergic asthma based on our experimental results, which suggests ANP/NPRA signaling pathway may be a potential therapeutic target for allergic asthma.