Plasma Brain Natriuretic Peptide Levels in a Population of Young Athletes

Abstract

Plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels have been evaluated in normal adults and children as well as in adult athletes. Several studies have documented elevation of BNP levels in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the most common cause of sudden death in athletes <35 years old, up to 50 times the level of controls. The levels of plasma BNP and their correlation to echocardiographic parameters have not been evaluated in adolescent athletes, a population potentially at risk for sudden death and annually screened for cardiovascular abnormalities. PURPOSE: To determine normal levels of plasma BNP in adolescent athletes and evaluate its correlation to cardiac parameters determined by echocardiography. METHODS: Plasma BNP measurement by rapid fluorescent immunoassay and limited echocardiography were performed on 30 healthy male adolescent high school football players (16.0 +/− 1.1 yrs). Left ventricular (LV) mass was then calculated using the Penn-cube formula of Devereux and Reichek and divided by body surface are determined by the DuBois formula to give LV mass index. Relative wall thickness (RWT) was calculated as interventricular septal thickness (IVSd) + posterior wall thickness (PWTd) / left ventricular end diastolic dimension (LVEDD). Pearson correlation coefficients with linear regression analysis for significance, set at p = 0.05, were used to assess relationships between plasma BNP levels and cardiac parameters. RESULTS: Plasma BNP for this population was 11.9+/− 10.2pg/ml. There was no correlationbetween BNP and IVSd (r =−0.15, p = 0.44), RWT (r = −0.04, p = 0.84), LV mass(r = 0.05, p = 0.79), or LV mass index (r = 0.11, p = 0.55). CONCLUSIONS: Plasma BNP levels in adolescent athletes are within the ranges of previously described normal adolescents and have no correlation to LV mass, even when corrected for body surface area.