Impact of kidney dysfunction on plasma and urinary N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide in patients with acute heart failure

The precise mechanism explaining the increased N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) concentrations among patients with concomitant acute heart failure (AHF) and kidney dysfunction is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of kidney dysfunction on simultaneous measures of plasma and urinary NT-proBNP in an unselected cohort of patients with AHF. One hundred thirty-eight consecutive hospitalized patients (median age: 74 years; interquartile range: 67-80 years; 54% male) with a diagnosis of AHF were prospectively studied. Blood and urine samples were collected on hospital arrival to determine NT-proBNP concentrations. Both plasma and urinary NT-proBNP concentrations increased with declining estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; P<.001 for both). However, after multivariate adjustment, eGFR was found to be an independent predictor of plasma (but not urinary) NT-proBNP concentration (eGFR: β=-0.19; P=.016). Indeed, plasma NT-proBNP was the main independent determinant of its urinary concentration (β=0.42; P<.001), and the ratio of urine/plasma NT-proBNP was independent of kidney function and similar across the range of eGFR examined (P=.368). In patients with AHF and concomitant kidney dysfunction, the increased circulating NT-proBNP may be mainly related to increased cardiac secretion and not decreased renal clearance.