C-type Natriuretic Peptide (CNP) belongs to a well characterized group of natriuretic peptides like A-type natriuretic (ANP) and B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), which play important roles as regulatory mechanisms as well as biomarkers. In contrast to ANP and BNP, very little CNP is produced by cardiac tissue, but is expressed primarily by the vascular endothelium in the presence of infection.
NT-proCNP (pCNP) is the N-terminal fragment of CNP. It is cleaved in a one-to-one ratio from proCNP yielding CNP, the active hormone, pCNP, and various other fragments. As in-vivo cannibalization of CNP occurs very rapidly, assays for CNP are not very stable. NT-proCNP is a much more stable analyte and makes for a very effective assay.Ongoing clinical studies have shown that pCNP is produced in considerable amounts in the presence of clinically important infections such as sepsis. |