CNP Background Information Natriuretic peptides comprise a family of 3 structurally related molecules: atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) (1). ANP and BNP act mainly as cardiac hormones, produced primarily by the atrium and ventricle, respectively, while the gene encoding C-type natriuretic peptide is expressed mainly in the brain (1). These peptides possess potent natriuretic, diuretic, and vasodilating activities and are implicated in body fluid homeostasis and blood pressure control (2). ANP, BNP and CNP are highly homologous within the 17-residue ring structure formed by an intramolecular disulfide linkage (2). The genes which encode for ANP and BNP map to human chromosome 1p36.2 (3,4). The gene which encodes for CNP maps to human chromosome 2q24-qter (5).
