Brain natriuretic peptide versus atrial natriuretic peptide—physiological and pathophysiological significance in children and adults: a review

Since the discovery of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in the cardiac atrium (1, 2). ANP has been implicated in body fluid homeostasis and blood pressure control as a cardiac hormone. Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), a second member of the natriuretic peptide family, was isolated originally from the mammalian brain and has a remarkable sequence homology to ANP (3–5). Following its discovery, it has been elucidated that BNP is synthesized and secreted primarily by the cardiac ventricle and is also a cardiac hormone like ANP (6, 7).