title: Comparison of atrial natriuretic peptide B-type natriuretic peptide, and N-terminal proatrial natriuretic peptide as indicators of left ventricular systolic dysfunction.
abstract: We have directly compared atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), and N-terminal pro-ANP (N-ANP) as markers of patients with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) < or = 35%, as measured by radionuclide ventriculography. Venous blood samples were obtained from an unselected group of 87 patients who had been referred for assessment of ventricular function. ANP, BNP, and N-ANP were measured by radioimmunoassay using commercial kits. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis was used for the objective assessment of the diagnostic performance of each assay. There was a weak negative correlation between LVEF and plasma levels of ANP-li (r = -0.50,), BNP-li (r = -0.57), and N-ANP-li (r = -0.49) (p <0.01 for each peptide). Areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curves for BNP (0.880) and N-ANP (0.832) were not significantly different from each other, but were both significantly greater than the value for ANP (0.761): BNP versus ANP, p <0.01; and N-ANP versus ANP, p <0.05. The optimal sensitivity and specificity of each assay for the detection of patients with LVEF < or = 35% were: BNP > 4 pmol/L-sensitivity 1.0, specificity 0.58; N-ANP >200 pmol/L-sensitivity 0.95, specificity 0.35; and ANP >10 pmol/L-sensitivity 0.90, specificity 0.30. Plasma concentrations of BNP and N-ANP provide sensitive indicators of moderate to severe LV dysfunction; both peptides, are objectively superior to ANP for identifying patients with LVEF < or = 35%. These simple tests could be used to screen patients with suspected ventricular dysfunction to reduce the demand for further cardiac investigations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: N C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Naas
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Coutie
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Struthers
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D015637:Gated Blood-Pool Imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000097:blood*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013599:Systole; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; C099254:N-terminal proatrial natriuretic peptide; D011498:Protein Precursors; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; D009320:Atrial Natriuretic Factor