PeptideHormone

B-type natriuretic peptideBNP

A ventricular natriuretic peptide — and a routine heart-failure marker.

EndogenousEstablished

Identity

Class
Natriuretic peptide (32 aa)
Source
Ventricular cardiomyocytes
Receptor
Natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPR-A)

Key properties

Molecular weight
~3,464 Da
Half-life (native)
~20 min
Model dosing

Approximate values for the native hormone. Engineered analogs are often deliberately larger and far longer-acting.

Mechanism

BNP is released from the ventricles under pressure or volume load and, like ANP, raises cGMP via NPR-A to promote natriuresis and vasodilation. Because its level rises with ventricular wall stress, BNP (and its NT-proBNP fragment) is widely measured to assess heart failure.

Reference notes

  • BNP and NT-proBNP are standard blood biomarkers of heart failure.
  • It is ventricular in origin, in contrast to ANP's atrial source.
  • It shares the NPR-A receptor and cGMP mechanism with ANP.

Selected literature

Curated peer-reviewed reviews, sourced from PubMed. Selected for relevance, not exhaustive — open any entry on PubMed for the full record and its primary citations.

  1. 1.NT-ProBNP: the mechanism behind the marker · Journal of cardiac failure, 2005 · PMID 15948107
  2. 2.Cardiac natriuretic peptides · Nature reviews. Cardiology, 2020 · PMID 32444692