Progress of diagnosis and predictive value of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in pediatric diseases

Abstract

N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP)is an endocrine hormone mainly derived from heart, partly from brain.During its process of secreting into blood, proBNP is decomposed into biological active BNP and biological inactive NT-proBNP.The plasma concentration of NT-proBNP is proportional to the ventricular volume and pressure, thus it is stable and has high value of quantitative analysis.NT-proBNP has strong effects on natriuresis, diuresis, dilation of blood vessels, and inhibition of renin angiotensin aldosterone system(RAAS)and sympathetic nervous system activity.The level of NT-proBNP in children′s plasma is not affected by gestational age, sex, and birth weight, mode of delivery and nutrition of children.NT- proBNP is a specific indicator for diagnosing pediatric cardiovascular system disease, respiratory system disease, neonatal diseases, infectious diseases, kawasaki disease and other diseases, and should be used as a sensitive index to monitor the condition of diseases for its good predictive value.With the development of the research, NT- proBNP will play an increasingly important role in the diagnosis, risk stratification, monitoring treatment and prognostic evaluation of pediatric diseases.This article mainly reviews the biological characteristics, detective methods, normal range and diagnostic and predictive value of NT- proBNP in pediatric diseases. Key words: N-terminalpro-brain natriuretic peptide; Pediatricdiseases; Diagnosis; Prognosis value