Serum levels of natriuretic peptides in patients with Behcet's disease

Abstract

The objective of our study was to elucidate serum levels of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) in Behcet's disease (BD) patients with active and inactive period. The multicenter study included 53 patients with active (n = 28) and inactive (n = 25) BD (mean age, 34.3 +/- 9 years; 15 men and 38 women) satisfying the International Study Group criteria and 26 healthy controls (mean age, 34.4 +/- 6.1 years; seven men and 19 women) matched for age and gender from a similar ethnic background. Serum natriuretic peptides levels were determined by enzyme immunoassay kit. Mean serum ANP concentrations in the active patients (4.01 +/- 1.21 ng/ml) were significantly lower than in the healthy controls (5.76 +/- 1.99 ng/ml, p = 0.004). Mean serum BNP levels were found to be significantly higher in both the active (6.19 +/- 2.97 ng/ml) and inactive (6.49 +/- 2.88 ng/ml) BD groups compared with the control group (3.82 +/- 1.1 ng/ml, p = 0.004 and p = 0.001, respectively). Mean serum CNP concentrations in the active patients (0.49 +/- 0.12 ng/ml) were significantly lower than in the inactive patients (0.65 +/- 0.2 ng/ml, p = 0.017) and the healthy controls (0.8 +/- 0.27 ng/ml, p < 0.001). Our results suggest that changes in natriuretic peptide levels may be associated with vasculitis that play role in the etiopathogenesis of the BD.