Adolfo J. de Bold

Adolfo J. de Bold, OC, FRSC (born 14 February 1942) is an Argentinian–Canadian cardiologist and cardiovascular researcher, best known for his discovery of atrial natriuretic peptide, a polypeptide hormone secreted by heart muscle cells.

Education and career
Born in Paraná, Argentina, de Bold obtained a BSc in clinical biochemistry at the Faculty of Chemical Sciences of the National University of Córdoba before moving to Canada in 1968. His MSc (1972) and PhD (1973) are from the Department of Pathology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, under the direction of Sergio Bencosme. He worked at Queen's University from 1974, rising to full professor in 1985. In 1986, he became director of research at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, a position he held until 1993.

As of 2008, de Bold is the Director of the Cardiovascular Endocrinology Laboratory at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, and also a Professor of Pathology and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Ottawa.

Research
De Bold's research has focused on the study of storage granules in heart cells. In 1980, this work led to his discovery and isolation of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), a polypeptide hormone secreted by heart muscle cells. This was the first demonstration that the heart has an endocrine function. De Bold's team went on to show that the heart modulates blood pressure, blood volume and cardiovascular growth via ANP. The discovery of ANP opened up a new field of research which has resulted in multiple therapeutic and diagnostic applications in heart failure.

Awards and honours
De Bold has received many awards for his work on ANP, including the Gairdner Foundation International Award (1986), Manning Innovation Awards Principal Award (1986), Royal Society of Canada McLaughlin Medal in Medical Research (1988), International Society for Hypertension Research Award (1990), CIBA Award of the American Heart Association (1994) and the American Society for Hypertension Research Award. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario included the discovery of ANP among its top ten research discoveries of the past fifty years. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1992, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Key papers

 * de Bold AJ, Borenstein HB, Veress AT, Sonnenberg H. (1981) A rapid and potent natriuretic response to intravenous injection of atrial myocardial extract in rats. Life Sci 28: 89–94 (PMID 7219045)
 * Flynn TG, de Bold ML, de Bold AJ. (1983) The amino acid sequence of an atrial peptide with potent diuretic and natriuretic properties. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 117: 859-865 (PMID 6230081)
 * de Bold AJ. (1985) Atrial natriuretic factor: a hormone produced by the heart. Science 230: 767–770 ( PMID 2932797)