Sex Differences in the Prognostic Power of Brain Natriuretic Peptide and N-Terminal Pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide for Cardiovascular Events　― The Japan Morning Surge-Home Blood Pressure Study

Background:Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) are prognostic biomarkers. Although these 2 peptides differ with regard to biological characteristics, there are few reports on the differences between BNP and NT-proBNP with regard to cardiovascular events or according to sex.Methods and Results:Between 2005 and 2012, this study analyzed 3,610 of 4,310 Japanese outpatients (mean age, 65 years; men, n=1,664; women, n=1,947) with a history of at least one cardiovascular event who were recruited to the Japan Morning Surge-Home Blood Pressure Study. During an average 4-year follow-up, there were 129 cardiovascular events. Both median BNP (21.1 pg/mL; IQR, 10.9–40.6 pg/mL vs. 16.2 pg/mL, IQR, 7.2–36.2 pg/mL, P