Peptide infusions of peptides the corticotropin releasing factor family, including urocortin 2, stresscopin, and urocortin 3 (UCn3), have favorable acute effects in clinical heart failure (HF), but their short half-lives make them unsuitable for chronic therapy.
All three Ucns exert salutary hemodynamic, neurohormonal and renal effects in experimental heart failure and recent clinical trials have demonstrated hemodynamic benefits of Ucn2 administration.
Urocortin-2 (UCn2) peptide infusion increases cardiac function in patients with heart failure, but chronic peptide infusion is cumbersome, is costly, and provides only short-term benefits.