Brain natriuretic peptide: diagnostic and prognostic value in chronic heart failure (a literature review)

Abstract

The increase in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease has caused a rapid increase in the risk of developing heart failure. For many years, chronic heart failure (CHF) has occupied one of the leading positions in the structure of cardiac and all-cause mortality worldwide, resulting in not only negative social, but also economic effects. To optimize the timely detection of this pathological condition, laboratory biomarker-based diagnostics of heart dysfunction is widely used along with echocardiographic examination. Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is currently considered one of the most well-known and informative biochemical markers in heart failure. The aim of the work was to cover the results of current scientific research according to the principles of evidence-based medicine regarding the use of BNP and its precursor NT-proBNP for the diagnosis of CHF, prognosis and monitoring of the treatment effectiveness. To achieve this goal, an analysis of literary sources published in scientometric databases such as ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus for the period 2013–2024 was carried out. Conclusions. BNP and NT-proBNP have been found to be informative markers for the early diagnosis of chronic heart failure and can also be recommended for dynamic assessment of patients’ condition and the effectiveness of their treatment. It is proposed to continue the research on clarifying the threshold diagnostic levels of the biomarkers in patients with chronic heart failure and comorbid conditions such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, as well as in consideration of their sex, age, racial and ethnic characteristics, which in the future would promote the optimization of timely diagnosis, selection of appropriate treatment and improvement of further prognosis.