- Home
- Medical news & Guidelines
- Anesthesiology
- Cardiology and CTVS
- Critical Care
- Dentistry
- Dermatology
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- ENT
- Gastroenterology
- Medicine
- Nephrology
- Neurology
- Obstretics-Gynaecology
- Oncology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedics
- Pediatrics-Neonatology
- Psychiatry
- Pulmonology
- Radiology
- Surgery
- Urology
- Laboratory Medicine
- Diet
- Nursing
- Paramedical
- Physiotherapy
- Health news
- Fact Check
- Bone Health Fact Check
- Brain Health Fact Check
- Cancer Related Fact Check
- Child Care Fact Check
- Dental and oral health fact check
- Diabetes and metabolic health fact check
- Diet and Nutrition Fact Check
- Eye and ENT Care Fact Check
- Fitness fact check
- Gut health fact check
- Heart health fact check
- Kidney health fact check
- Medical education fact check
- Men's health fact check
- Respiratory fact check
- Skin and hair care fact check
- Vaccine and Immunization fact check
- Women's health fact check
- AYUSH
- State News
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chandigarh
- Chattisgarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Delhi
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu & Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Ladakh
- Lakshadweep
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Odisha
- Puducherry
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Telangana
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttrakhand
- West Bengal
- Medical Education
- Industry
Pregnant women may have highest NT-proBNP in first trimester compared to third trimester
USA: A recent study published in JACC: Advances has shown significantly higher NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) in women in their pregnancy's first trimester compared to similarly aged nonpregnant women.
The researchers suggest "the dynamic nature of NT-proBNP should be considered when ordering NT-proBNP lab tests in pregnant women."
The pro-B-type natriuretic peptide is a prohormone cleaved into biologically active BNP and NT-proBNP. NT-proBNP is often used as an adjunct clinical measure for heart failure evaluation. Not much is known about expected physiologic NT-proBNP levels in pregnancy. Currently, there are no recognized reference values for NT-proBNP in pregnant women, making it challenging to interpret NT-proBNP in this setting. There have been no studies of NT-proBNP in a general population of pregnant women in the US. As NT-proBNP is often used for its negative predictive value, it is crucial to understand its distribution in the general population.
To fill this knowledge gap, Anum S. Minhas, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, and colleagues aimed to measure NT-proBNP in adult women, by trimester and pregnancy status, in a nationally representative sample from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999 to 2004.
A cross-sectional analysis of 2,134 women (546 pregnant) aged 20 to 40 without a history of CVD (cardiovascular disease) was performed.
The authors reported the following findings:
- Among pregnant women in the first trimester, the prevalence of elevated NT-proBNP (>125 pg/mL) was 20.0% (SE, 6.6%) compared to 2.4% (SE, 0.8%) among women in the third trimester and 8.0% among nonpregnant women.
- After adjustment for demographics and cardiovascular risk factors, NT-proBNP was 44% higher (absolute difference 26.4 pg/mL) in the first trimester of pregnancy compared to nonpregnant women.
- Among pregnant women only, adjusted NT-proBNP was 46% lower (absolute difference −22.2 pg/mL) in women in the third trimester versus women in the first trimester.
- NT-proBNP was inversely associated with body mass index and with systolic blood pressure.
"We found higher NT-proBNP levels in women in the pregnancy's first trimester compared with nonpregnant women and women in their later trimester," the researchers wrote. "Similarly, there was a higher prevalence of increased NT-proBNP in the first trimester versus nonpregnant women and those in late trimesters."
Across the second and third trimesters, systolic blood pressure and BMI were associated with lower NT-proBNP. The results suggest that NT-proBNP levels are dynamic throughout pregnancy and differ from nonpregnant women.
"Our findings indicate that NT-proBNP interpretation in pregnant women without CVD is complex," the researchers conclude. "BMI, trimester, and blood pressure may need to be considered for NT-proBNP assessment in pregnant women."
Reference:
Minhas, A. S., Rooney, M. R., Fang, M., Zhang, S., Ndumele, C. E., Tang, O., Schulman, S. P., Michos, E. D., McEvoy, J. W., Echouffo-Tcheugui, J., Christenson, R., & Selvin, E. (2023). Prevalence and Correlates of Elevated NT-proBNP in Pregnant Women in the General U.S. Population. JACC: Advances, 2(2), 100265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacadv.2023.100265
MSc. Biotechnology
Medha Baranwal joined Medical Dialogues as an Editor in 2018 for Speciality Medical Dialogues. She covers several medical specialties including Cardiac Sciences, Dentistry, Diabetes and Endo, Diagnostics, ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurosciences, and Radiology. She has completed her Bachelors in Biomedical Sciences from DU and then pursued Masters in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a working experience of 5 years in the field of medical research writing, scientific writing, content writing, and content management. She can be contacted at  editorial@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751