H. Itoh et al., BRAIN NATRIURETIC PEPTIDE LEVELS IN THE UMBILICAL VENOUS PLASMA ARE ELEVATED IN FETAL DISTRESS, Biology of the neonate, 64(1), 1993, pp. 18-25
We measured, by a specific radioimmunoassay, brain-natriuretic-peptide
-like immunoreactive (BNP-LI) levels in the umbilical venous and arter
ial plasma of normal and distressed newborns. The indicated BNP-LI lev
el in umbilical arterial plasma of normal newborns (3.5 +/- 0.9 fmol/m
l, mean +/- SEM, n = 10) was significantly higher than that in umbilic
al venous plasma of the same newborns (2.2 +/- 0.5 fmol/ml). In the di
stressed newborns at term, the indicated BNP-LI level in umbilical ven
ous plasma was 62.2 +/- 25.7 fmol/ml (n = 4), which was 19-fold higher
than that of elective cesarean section cases (3.2 +/- 0.3 fmol/ml, n
= 6; p < 0.05). The findings demonstrated that BNP was present in the
human fetal circulation and that the plasma BNP level was elevated und
er fetal distress conditions.