title: N-terminal fragment of B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), a marker of cardiac safety during antipsychotic treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND: The potential cardiotoxicity of antipsychotic drugs is well known. The N-terminal fragment of B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) is considered to be a possible biomarker in clinical practice for the diagnosis and prognosis in patients with suspected heart failure. This pilot evaluation tests the influence of antipsychotic drugs on NT-proBNP concentration in view of the hypothesis that NT-proBNP could be used as marker for the tolerability and safety of antipsychotic medications. METHODS: On a routine basis, patient's blood samples were examined for NT-proBNP on days 0, 7 and 21 after initiation of a new antipsychotic monotherapy. All plasma samples were analysed for NT-proBNP using an electrochemiluminiscence immunoassay "ECLIA" (proBNP kit, Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) on an Elecsys 2010 analyser. RESULTS: A difference was found in NT-proBNP values at day 0 between patients younger versus older than 40 years. Also women had comparatively lower NTproBNP on days 7 and 21. Smokers' levels of NT-proBNP values decreased more from day 0 to day 7. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that antipsychotic medication influences the plasma concentration of NT-proBNP, suggesting a possible method to identify high-risk-patients for cardiovascular adverse effects due to antipsychotic medication. Larger studies should further test this hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, 30623 Hannover, Germany. kropp.stefan@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kropp
authors.forename: Argyro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tountopoulou
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lichtinghagen