Brain natriuretic peptide and C-type natriuretic peptide are differently regulated by age but similarly elevated in coronary artery disease.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the effect of age and coronary angioplasty on brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP).


RESULTS
Serum levels of both peptides immediately before catheterization and at the end of angioplasty in 15 patients (age 68 +/- 8 years, 8 men) with coronary artery disease (CAD) were compared to 12 elderly (65 +/- 7 years, 8 men) and 16 non-elderly (34 +/- 7 years, 10 men) healthy individuals. The results showed that in healthy individuals the levels of both peptides are age-dependent dissimilarly. Compared to the non-elderly, while BNP increases in the elderly (7.81 +/- 1.60 vs. 10.01 +/- 2.06 pg/ml, p = 0.002), CNP decreases (5.39 +/- 1.30 vs. 2.22 +/- 0.80 pg/ml, p < 0.001). On the other hand, compared to the elderly healthy persons, patients with CAD have a marked increase in the baseline levels of BNP (20.02 +/- 17.43 pg/ml, p = 0.03) and CNP (4.41 +/- 1.20 pg/ml, p < 0.001). However, both peptides remain stationary immediately after angioplasty (BNP, 21.02 +/- 16.95; CNP, 4.51 +/- 1.06 pg/ml; both p = 0.4).


CONCLUSIONS
BNP and CNP are differentially regulated by age in a healthy state, suggesting that each peptide has a distinct role during the aging process. The elevation of both peptides in CAD but little change shortly after angioplasty may indicate that both peptides respond to a chronic state rather than an acute episode of vascular damage.
Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Research , Mackay Memorial Hospital, Mackay Medicine, Nursing and Management College, Taipei, Taiwan.
Ta-Chun
TC
Hong
Hung-I
HI
Yeh
Bing-Fu
BF
Shih
An-Mei
AM
Wang
Chun-Yen
CY
Chen
Charles Jia-Yin
CJ
Hou
Cheng-Ho
CH
Tsai
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D017130:Angioplasty; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain / Q000097:blood*; D020098:Natriuretic Peptide, C-Type / Q000097:blood*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D020097:Natriuretic Peptide, Brain; D020098:Natriuretic Peptide, C-Type