B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) is a cardiovascular active polypeptide that reflects the function of the heart.
Natriuretic peptides are a group of peptides involved in the maintenance of the body’s water-salt balance, blood pressure stability, cardiovascular and renal organ function homeostasis, mainly atrial natriuretic peptide, brain natriuretic peptide (B-type natriuretic peptide, BNP), C-type natriuretic peptide. Among them, BNP is an important marker of cardiac function and is commonly used in heart failure diagnosis, patient management, and risk assessment of clinical events.
BNP is often released when the myocardium is stimulated by tension. For example, circulating BNP levels are elevated in heart failure, and the degree of increase is positively correlated with the severity of the disease, which can be used as an indicator for evaluating the progression and prognosis of heart failure.
In general, normal BNP levels in untreated patients can exclude the diagnosis of heart failure, while high BNP levels in treated patients suggest a poor prognosis. As left ventricular hypertrophy, myocardial ischemia, pulmonary artery embolism, renal insufficiency, cirrhosis, infection, sepsis, and advanced age can cause elevated natriuretic peptide, the specificity of BNP for the diagnosis of the disease is not high.
Those with abnormal BNP should go to regular hospitals in time to find out the cause of the disease and take active treatment.