Analysis of circulating forms of proBNP and NT-proBNP in patients with severe heart failure.

Background: The specific forms of pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (proBNP) that occur in human blood are not yet clear. We demonstrated the presence of several proBNP forms in human plasma with a new affinity chromatography method that can be used in combination with nano-liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (nano-LC-ESI-MS/MS).

Methods: For affinity chromatography, we coupled Fab' fragments of polyclonal sheep antibodies specific for N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) epitope 1-21 to silica beads.

NT-proBNP concentrations indicate cardiac disease in pediatric patients.

Objective: To test the performance of N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide to distinguish from cardiac and non-cardiac disease in the pediatric patient population.

Method: NT-proBNP concentrations were retrospectively analysed in 102 pediatric patients (median age: 5.96 years; 0-18 years) with cardiac diseases comprising left-to-right-shunt lesions (n=42), left heart lesions (n=47) and right heart lesions (n=13) and in 65 pediatric patients (median age: 3.

Thermal preconditioning protects the human internal mammary artery from hypoxia/re-oxygenation-induced damage.

1. Preconditioning has been demonstrated to ameliorate ischaemia/reperfusion injury in several cells and tissues. Therefore, in the present study we investigated whether preconditioning of human bypass grafts, internal mammary artery (IMA) and saphenous vein (SV) induces heat shock protein (Hsp) expression and reduces apoptosis in response to subsequent hypoxia/re-oxygenation damage in both vessels.