Natriuretic peptides in septic patients.

The natriuretic peptide family is comprised of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP), dendroaspis natriuretic peptide - DNP and urodilatin. They play a role in the diagnosis of several diseases, especially those involving the cardiovascular system. Sepsis is a complex condition that can lead to multiorgan failure, shock and death. The number of people developing sepsis is still increasing (approximately 750,000 cases of sepsis occur annually in the USA). Both ANP and pro-ANP have attracted interest as new markers for sepsis. Reports indicate that ANP or BNP levels are elevated in septic patients. However, many mechanisms are still unexplained. This situation is complicated by the fact that contradictory results have been published. There are several reasons for this controversy including differences in the techniques used to assay natriuretic peptides. Nevertheless, natriuretic peptides might eventually prove useful for the diagnosis and/or the treatment of septic patients.