Serum N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide in normal Thai subjects

Aminoterminal portion of pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) appears to be useful in the screening, diagnosis and prognosis of left ventricular dysfunction and congestive heart failure. The purpose of this study was to determine the values of serum NT-proBNP in normal Thai subjects compared with subjects from other countries. The design is a cross sectional study. The authors enrolled 243 consecutive healthy subjects (134 males and 109 females) from the checkup department of Bangkok Hospital for NT-proBNP measurement. The serum fraction was measured for NT-proBNP concentration by using Elecsys 2010 (Roche Diagnostics, Switzerland). The concentrations of NT-proBNP in normal Thai subjects were 33.30 ± 35.43 pg/ml. The NT-proBNP levels increased with age (age ≤ 50 years = 27.56 ± 28.77 pg/ml and age > 50 years = 47.20 ± 45.18 pg/ml, p < 0.001). Females usually have higher NT-proBNP than males (females = 40.42 ± 31.59 pg/ml, males = 27.51 ± 37.40 pg/ml, p = 0.0045). This study established the NT-proBNP concentrations in normal Thai subjects, which were not different from other studies. The authors suggested the normal cut-off values for subjects aged < 50 years should be 100 pg/ml and the normal cut-off values for subjects aged > 50 years should be 200 pg/ml. The NT-proBNP assay could be used as a rule out marker for heart failure in patients and may trigger further cardiac investigation.