The Biological Variation of N-Terminal Pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide in Postmenopausal Women with Type 2 Diabetes: A Case Control Study

BACKGROUND: The incidence of heart failure in type 2 diabetes is high and it has poorer prognosis when compared with patients without diabetes. Access to echocardiography is limited and alternative methods to identify early heart failure such as the measurement of natriuretic peptides levels have been proposed. However, their wide biological variation could limit their clinical utility. Our aim was to determine if the intrinsic biological variation of one of these peptides, N-terminal proBNP, is as wide in type 2 diabetes as it is in health and to calculate the critical difference values that could be utilised in clinical practice to ensure changes observed between two samples are due to intervention rather than to its biological variability. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: 12 postmenopausal women with diet controlled type 2 diabetes and without heart failure were compared with 11 control postmenopausal women without diabetes. N-terminal proBNP levels were measured on 10 occasions. The biological variation was calculated according to Fraser's methods. The mean NT-proBNP level was similar in both groups (mean ± standard deviation; type 2 diabetes, 10.7 pmol/L± 8.5 versus 8.49±6.0 pmol/L, p = 0.42). The biological variation was also similarly wide. The critical difference in patients with type 2 diabetes was between -70% and ±236%. CONCLUSIONS: Type 2 diabetes does not appear to significantly influence the marked biological variation of N-terminal proBNP in postmenopausal women. The critical difference values reported in this study could be used to titrate therapy or monitor response to interventions although the change required in between samples is wide and this might limit its utility.