Recent studies support the speculation that different molecular forms of the cardiac hormone BNP with differential biological activity may circulate in heart failure and be detected by conventional assays. In the current study we determined the ability of 3 widely used conventional assays to detect these different forms thought to circulate in heart failure. We also evaluated the ability of pro...

We examined the effect of renal dysfunction on B-natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal (NT)-proBNP, and their molar ratio at varying severities of cardiac function in 94 Thai patients with chest pain (52 men; 32 women), also measuring creatinine and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Renal function was classified into 5 stages by estimated glomerular filtration rate. The molar NT-proBNP...

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of pleural fluid brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), N-terminal pro-BNP (NT-pro-BNP) and ST2, which are biomarkers of myocyte stress, for diagnosing pleural effusions due to heart failure (HF). BNP and ST2 have not been previously evaluated in pleural fluid. METHODS The three biomarkers were measured in the pleural flu...

BACKGROUND Natriuretic peptides are released by the heart in response to wall stress. OBJECTIVE The NT-Pro-BNP concentrations in slow coronary flow (SCF) patients were assessed before and after the exercise test and compared with the values of healthy controls. METHODS The study population was 34 patients with SCF [22 males (64.7%), aged 51.0 ± 6.2 years], and 34 normal subjects with normal...

Acute myocardial infarction (MI) results in activation of neurohormonal systems and increased plasma concentrations of myocardial enzymes and structural proteins. We hypothesized that plasma levels of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-BNP) would respond more vigorously after MI than those of other natriuretic peptides. We also sought to compare this response with that of the establis...

Serum N-terminal pro b-type natriuretic peptide (NT-pro-BNP) testing is recommended in the patients with heart failure (HF). We hypothesized that NT-pro-BNP, in combination with other clinical factors in terms of a novel NT-pro BNP-based score, may provide even better predictive power for in-hospital mortality among patients with HF. A retrospective study enrolled adult patients with hospitaliz...

We investigated the performance of brain natriuretic peptides (BNP and NT-proBNP) in detecting various degrees of left ventricular systolic dysfunction. The NT-proBNP assay (Roche) and the BNP assay (Bayer Shionoria) were performed in 46 patients (mean age 50 years; range 20-79 years) with various types of heart disease (chronic heart failure due to coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, acqu...

BACKGROUND We compared the performance of different natriuretic peptides to diagnose mild forms of left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) and investigated the influence of measuring B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) with different assays on the diagnostic performance of these markers. METHODS We measured BNP (Triage BNP), NT-proBNP (Biomedica), and N-terminal pro-...

BACKGROUND Plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) assay is recommended as a diagnostic tool in emergency-room patients with acute dyspnea. In the intensive care unit (ICU), the utility of this peptide remains a matter of debate. The objectives of this study were to determine whether cut-off values for BNP and N-terminal-proBNP (NT-proBNP) reliably diagnosed right and/or left ventricular failur...

AIMS No studies have yet been conducted concerning plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (Nt-pro-BNP) levels after Myocardial Infarction (MI) and their relationship with short-term outcomes in diabetic patients. METHODS AND RESULTS Five hundred and sixty patients hospitalized for MI from the RICO survey, including 199 diabetic and 361 non-diabetic subjects, were included in the stud...