Brain natriuretic peptide levels in the umbilical venous plasma are elevated in fetal distress.
We measured, by a specific radioimmunoassay, brain-natriuretic-peptide-like immunoreactive (BNP-LI) levels in the umbilical venous and arterial plasma of normal and distressed newborns. The indicated BNP-LI level in umbilical arterial plasma of normal newborns (3.5 +/- 0.9 fmol/ml, mean +/- SEM, n = 10) was significantly higher than that in umbilical venous plasma of the same newborns (2.2 +/- 0.5 fmol/ml). In the distressed newborns at term, the indicated BNP-LI level in umbilical venous plasma was 62.2 +/- 25.7 fmol/ml (n = 4), which was 19-fold higher than that of elective cesarean section cases (3.2 +/- 0.3 fmol/ml, n = 6; p < 0.05). The findings demonstrated that BNP was present in the human fetal circulation and that the plasma BNP level was elevated under fetal distress conditions.
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Kyoto University, Faculty of Medicine, Japan.
H
H
Itoh
N
N
Sagawa
M
M
Hasegawa
A
A
Okagaki
K
K
Inamori
Y
Y
Ihara
T
T
Mori
S
S
Suga
M
M
Mukoyama
G
G
Shirakami
D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D002585:Cesarean Section; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood; D005316:Fetal Distress / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000379:methods; D012016:Reference Values; D014469:Umbilical Arteries; D014471:Umbilical Veins
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor