Therefore, the genetic defects that reduce the activity of ANP and its receptor system can be considered as candidate contributors to essential hypertension and CHF (John et al., 1995; Pandey et al., 1999; Zhao et al., 1999; Knowles et al., 2001; Holtwick et al., 2002; Shi et al., 2003; Vellaichamy et al., 2005). The gene discussed is NPPA; the disease is congestive heart failure.