Cardiovascular & General; Cardiovascular & Metabolic

Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP)

A heart under strain writes its own distress signal into the blood: brain natriuretic peptide, released by the lower chambers when the muscle wall is stretched, and named by historical accident after the pig brain it was first isolated from in 1988. A blinded study of 1,586 patients established what it is now used for, which is telling breathlessness caused by heart failure apart from breathlessness caused by something else, in the first minutes of an emergency department visit. That is a test, not a treatment. The body's own BNP is measured and never given; the manufactured version that is given to patients is nesiritide, which has its own record here, and the large trial of it found no benefit.

Last updated 12 August 2026

Studied forHeart failure biomarker · Sodium excretion research · Renal protection research

Evidence on file1 human observational study · 1 animal study · 1 citation not yet graded

Strongest sourceRapid Measurement of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide in the Emergency Diagnosis of Heart Failure (New England Jour… (human observational study)

Mechanism

Binds natriuretic peptide receptor-A, a guanylyl cyclase, raising cGMP to drive natriuresis, diuresis, and vasodilation.

Reported effects

What sources associate with this compound. Reported categories, not outcomes we have graded — each would need its own citation and rung.

Heart failure biomarker
Sodium excretion research
Renal protection research

Dosing on file unverified

Loading: 1.5-2 µg/kg IV bolus; Maintenance: 0.0075-0.015 µg/kg/min × 48-72h; Loading: 1.5-2 µg/kg IV bolus × 3-15 min; Maintenance: 0.0075-0.015 µg/kg/min continuous × 48-72h; 0.01 µg/kg/min

Carried from a source that labels it unverified, and reproduced with that label attached. A record of what is reported, not a recommendation. No citation on this page establishes it.

Literature on file 3

human observational
Rapid Measurement of B-Type Natriuretic Peptide in the Emergency Diagnosis of Heart Failure (New England Journal of Medicine 2002, cited 2686x) graded on: an observational human design — read from the indexed abstract — “prospective study”
animal in vivo
A new natriuretic peptide in porcine brain (Nature 1988, cited 1337x) graded on: an animal model — “porcine”

Not graded

1 citation whose study design could not be read from the title. Left ungraded rather than guessed at.

not graded
NCT07617675: Perioperative Recombinant Human Brain Natriuretic Peptide for Renal Protection in Cardiac Surgery: the PROTECT-CS Randomized Clinical Trial graded on: NCT07617675 is not yet recruiting and has posted no results - a registration, not a reported outcome — “NCT07617675”

Identity

Space-filling 3D model of Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP), carbon grey, nitrogen blue, oxygen red — Built from the SMILES on this record — the atoms and bonds are exact. The shape is **one computed low-energy pose**, not a measured structure: a flexible peptide in solution has no single conformation, and where the SMILES leaves a stereocentre undefined the pose commits to one arbitrarily. The skeletal formula below claims connectivity and nothing more, which is what we actually know.

2D chemical structure of Brain Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) — Built from the SMILES on this record — the atoms and bonds are exact. The shape is **one computed low-energy pose**, not a measured structure: a flexible peptide in solution has no single conformation, and where the SMILES leaves a stereocentre undefined the pose commits to one arbitrarily. The skeletal formula below claims connectivity and nothing more, which is what we actually know.

Molecular weight: 3524.1
Molecular formula: C145H248N50O44S4
PubChem CID: 139211146
UniProt: P16860 (precursor)
InChI key: FJULFJFRGUHITK-UHFFFAOYSA-N
SMILES: CCC(C)C(C(=O)NC(CCCNC(=N)N)C(=O)NC(CC(=O)O)C(=O)NC(CCSC)C(=O)NC(CCCCN)C(=O)NC(CCCCN)C(=O)NC(C(C)C)C(=O)NC(CC(C)C)C(=O)NC(CCCNC(=N)N)C(=O)NC(CCCNC(=N)N)C(=O)NC(CC1=CNC=N1)C(=O)O)NC(=O)C(CO)NC(=O)C(CO)NC(=O)C(CO)NC(=O)C(CO)NC(=O)CNC(=O)C(CC(C)C)NC(=O)CNC(=O)C2CSSCC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NCC(=O)NC(C(=O)N2)CCCNC(=N)N)CC3=CC=CC=C3)NC(=O)CNC(=O)C(CO)NC(=O)CNC(=O)C(CCC(=O)N)NC(=O)C(C(C)C)NC(=O)C(CCSC)NC(=O)C(CCCCN)NC(=O)C4CCCN4C(=O)C(CO)N.CC(=O)O
InChI: InChI=1S/C143H244N50O42S4.C2H4O2/c1-13-76(10)112(137(232)180-86(36-26-48-161-143(155)156)122(217)183-93(56-109(206)207)128(223)178-88(40-50-236-11)124(219)173-81(30-17-20-42-144)119(214)174-83(32-19-22-44-146)125(220)190-111(75(8)9)136(231)184-91(53-73(4)5)127(222)176-84(34-24-46-159-141(151)152)121(216)175-85(35-25-47-160-142(153)154)123(218)185-94(139(234)235)55-78-57-157-71-167-78)192-132(227)99(68-199)188-131(226)98(67-198)187-130(225)97(66-197)186-129(224)96(65-196)171-107(204)61-163-114(209)90(52-72(2)3)169-105(202)59-166-117(212)100-69-238-239-70-101(133(228)182-92(54-77-28-15-14-16-29-77)115(210)164-58-104(201)168-80(118(213)189-100)33-23-45-158-140(149)150)172-108(205)62-165-116(211)95(64-195)170-106(203)60-162-113(208)87(38-39-103(148)200)181-135(230)110(74(6)7)191-126(221)89(41-51-237-12)177-120(215)82(31-18-21-43-145)179-134(229)102-37-27-49-193(102)138(233)79(147)63-194;1-2(3)4/h14-16,28-29,57,71-76,79-102,110-112,194-199H,13,17-27,30-56,58-70,144-147H2,1-12H3,(H2,148,200)(H,157,167)(H,162,208)(H,163,209)(H,164,210)(H,165,211)(H,166,212)(H,168,201)(H,169,202)(H,170,203)(H,171,204)(H,172,205)(H,173,219)(H,174,214)(H,175,216)(H,176,222)(H,177,215)(H,178,223)(H,179,229)(H,180,232)(H,181,230)(H,182,228)(H,183,217)(H,184,231)(H,185,218)(H,186,224)(H,187,225)(H,188,226)(H,189,213)(H,190,220)(H,191,221)(H,192,227)(H,206,207)(H,234,235)(H4,149,150,158)(H4,151,152,159)(H4,153,154,160)(H4,155,156,161);1H3,(H,3,4)

Also called

BNP (Brain Natriuretic Peptide)

Caveat on these identifiers

NCT07617675 studies recombinant human BNP, not ANP.

Notes unverified prose

NCT07617675; NCT07617675 (0.01 µg/kg/min)

Not on file 3

2 of the 8 fields we track hold nothing on this record, and each says why. 1 further absence is named below. A blank field is a bug; a named absence is a finding.

CAS registry numbernothing we hold supplies it
amino-acid sequencenothing we hold supplies it
half-lifenothing we hold supplies it

Each field links to every other record missing the same thing. The full ledger holds 765 gaps across 163 records.