B-type natriuretic peptide is the only cardiac natriuretic peptide common to all
vertebrate species thus far examined. The plasma BNP level
is used as a robust and reliable biomarker for the diagnosis
and prognosis of heart failure. BNP was isolated in 1988 from porcine brain extracts
and was thus named the brain natriuretic peptide. Soon
thereafter, BNP was found to be expressed abundantly in
the cardiac ventricle and scarcely in the brains of humans
and rats. Currently, BNP has been recognized as a principal cardiac hormone and referred to as the B-type natriuretic peptide.
