Responses of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), mature BNP and proBNP to sacubitril/valsartan differs between responders and non-responders

Background Earlier studies showed that measured changes in plasma B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels are inconsistent after sacubitril/valsartan administration. The reason remains unknown but may reflect the fact that BNP immunoreactivity measured with commercial BNP assays (BNPcom) includes both mature BNP and proBNP, and neprilysin degrades only mature BNP. In addition, the responsiveness to sacubitril/valsartan varies among patients with heart failure. We investigated the mechanism underlying the inconsistency of BNP measurements after sacubitril/valsartan.Methods We measured plasma mature BNP, proBNP and total BNP (mature BNP+proBNP) levels with our immunochemiluminescent assay as well as NT-proBNP, A-type natriuretic peptide (ANP) and BNPcom with conventional assays in 54 patients with heart failure, before (baseline) and after 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks of sacubitril/valsartan administration. Responders were defined as having NT-proBNP levels at