Clinical research of the relationship between brain natriuretic peptide and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein with atrial fibrillation in hypertension patients

Objective To investigate the relationship between the BNP, hs-CRP levels with atrial fibrillation(AF) in hypertensive patients. Methods The prognostic value of BNP and hs-CRP in 210 hypertensive patients from Oct 2007 to Feb 2009 were tested. UCG and ECG were performed for each hypertensive patient. Left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was calculated based on the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD), inter-ventricular septum thickness (IVSD) and left ventricular posterior wall thickness (LVPWD) measured by UCG. According to the LVMI and ECG, the patients were divided into group A (atrial fibrillation, n=116) and group B (non-atrial fibrillation, n=104). The levels of plasma BNP, hs-CRP in the two groups were determined. The relationship of hypertensive patients with atrial fibrillation, BNP and hs-CRP levels was investigated. Results There were 106 cases in the group of patients with atrial fibrillation, in which 59 cases were paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, 24 cases were persistent atrial fibrillation and 33 cases were permanent atrial fibrillation. 104 cases were in the non-AF group, in which 37 cases were male, 67 were female. There was 104 cases in the group of patients without atrial fibrillation. BNP (198.66±118.84 vs. 86.37±66.97 pg/ml) and LVMI(127.85±28.05 vs. 83.70±17.22 g/m2)were higher in group A than group B (P 0.01).The level of BNP was higher in the permanent AF patients than the paroxysmal AF patients(P 0.05). LA, the time of atrial fibrillation and LVMI were positively correlated with BNP in hypertensive patients. BNP was negatively correlated with hs-CRP with the above-mentioned indicators, but the correlation coefficient was not statistically significant. Logistic regression analysis showed that higher serum BNP levels in hypertensive patients could increase the possibility of atrial fibrillation. The relationship between hs-CRP level and atrial fibrillation did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.082). Conclusions BNP is closely related to AF. BNP and hs-CRP can be markers for hypertension complicated with atrial fibrillation.