Pan-proBNP is a measure of NT-proBNP and its various forms in the blood. NT-proBNP is a protein the heart releases when it is working harder than normal, and a simple blood test can measure it. It is already widely used to help diagnose and monitor heart failure, and it is more stable in the blood than the related hormone BNP, which makes it well suited to testing. Increasingly, it is seen as an early signal that the heart is under stress, even before symptoms begin. Problems with the heart’s main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, can develop quietly, and testing NT-proBNP can help identify them at the earliest stages, when the risk of progression is highest and there is the greatest chance to intervene.
What a raised result can reveal about future risk
NT-proBNP can also help look ahead. Researchers combined data from 95,617 people with no known heart disease across 40 studies. Those in the highest third for NT-proBNP had roughly double the risk of coronary heart disease (such as heart attack), stroke or heart failure compared with those in the lowest third, even after accounting for factors including age, blood pressure and cholesterol. Adding NT-proBNP to standard risk assessments also improved predictions for heart disease and stroke [1].
Why testing people at risk matters
This evidence is starting to shape guidance. The 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA guideline supports natriuretic peptide screening followed by team-based care for people at risk of heart failure [2], and an American Diabetes Association report advises checking cardiac biomarkers at least yearly in people with diabetes [3].
A raised result is not a diagnosis on its own. Kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can also push levels up, so results are always read alongside the full clinical picture. Used in this way, NT-proBNP gives clinicians a chance to act earlier, when prevention is still possible.
Pan-proBNP at Randox
Pan-proBNP supports the diagnosis and monitoring of heart failure and helps clinicians identify patients who may be at increased cardiovascular risk. It is available on the Evidence RABTA (Random Access Biochip Technology Analyser).
Reference list
- Willeit, P. et al. (2016) ‘Natriuretic peptides and integrated risk assessment for cardiovascular disease: an individual-participant-data meta-analysis’, The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, 4(10), pp. 840-849. doi: 10.1016/S2213-8587(16)30196-6.
- Heidenreich, P.A. et al. (2022) ‘2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA guideline for the management of heart failure: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines’, Circulation, 145(18), pp. e895-e1032. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001063.
- Pop-Busui, R. et al. (2022) ‘Heart failure: an underappreciated complication of diabetes. A consensus report of the American Diabetes Association’, Diabetes Care, 45(7), pp. 1670-1690.