A signal so faithful to cardiac strain that medicine measures it instead of asking the heart directly.
Identity
- Class
- Natriuretic peptide (32 aa)
- Source
- Ventricular cardiomyocytes
- Receptor
- Natriuretic peptide receptor A (NPR-A)
Key properties
Evidence floorClinicalREF1CLIN1Approximate values for the native hormone; engineered analogs are often deliberately larger and far longer-acting. Each figure carries its own provenance tier, and the floor is the weakest of them - the Standard.
Mechanism
BNP is released from the ventricles under pressure or volume load and, like ANP, raises cGMP via NPR-A to promote natriuresis and vasodilation. Because its level rises with ventricular wall stress, BNP (and its NT-proBNP fragment) is widely measured to assess heart failure.
Reference notes
- BNP and NT-proBNP are standard blood biomarkers of heart failure.
- It is ventricular in origin, in contrast to ANP's atrial source.
- It shares the NPR-A receptor and cGMP mechanism with ANP.
Regulatory status
United States · reviewed September 2026- Basis
- Nesiritide (Natrecor, 2001) approved for acute decompensated heart failure; commercially discontinued.
Status describes the molecule as a drug substance under US law and is an editorial reading of the public record — approvals, trial registrations, and the FDA 503A bulk-substances list. It is not legal advice and it changes; the review date above is the last time the table was checked. Other jurisdictions are noted only where they differ materially.
Common questions
- What is B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP)?
- A ventricular natriuretic peptide — and a routine heart-failure marker. Structurally it is Natriuretic peptide (32 aa).
- How does BNP work?
- BNP is released from the ventricles under pressure or volume load and, like ANP, raises cGMP via NPR-A to promote natriuresis and vasodilation. Because its level rises with ventricular wall stress, BNP (and its NT-proBNP fragment) is widely measured to assess heart failure.
- How strong is the evidence for BNP?
- PeptideHormone grades BNP at the "Established" evidence tier — its mechanism and core effects are settled across the peer-reviewed literature. It is catalogued as an endogenous signal the body produces itself, and the tier is an editorial judgment about the public literature that can change as the science does.
- What is the half-life of BNP?
- The reported circulating half-life of BNP is ~20 min.
- Is BNP FDA-approved?
- Yes — as of September 2026, BNP is an approved prescription medicine in the United States. Nesiritide (Natrecor, 2001) approved for acute decompensated heart failure; commercially discontinued. Status is US-centric and can change; check the FDA record for the current position.
In the literature
Live registry counts · retrieved- Ph 120
- Ph 231
- Ph 319
- Ph 444
Searched as B-type natriuretic peptide, BNP, brain natriuretic peptide, nesiritide. Counts are search hits from the primary registries, not a curated set and not a grade – a measure of how much work exists on BNP, not how it turned out.
Selected literature
Curated peer-reviewed reviews, sourced from PubMed. Selected for relevance, not exhaustive — open any entry on PubMed for the full record and its primary citations.
- 1.NT-ProBNP: the mechanism behind the marker · Journal of cardiac failure, 2005 · PMID 15948107
- 2.Cardiac natriuretic peptides · Nature reviews. Cardiology, 2020 · PMID 32444692
External references
BNP in the public knowledge graph — the same entity resolved across the authoritative chemistry and protein databases.