Distribution and degradation of BNP

BNP is widely distributed in the brain, spinal cord, heart and lung and other tissues, among which the heart has the highest content. The medulla oblongata in the brain has the highest content, the BNP content in the central nervous system is higher than that of ANP, and the BNP content in the brain and spinal cord is about 13 times higher than that of ANP. BNP in the heart is mainly found in the left and right atrium. The content of the right atrium is more than three times that of the left atrium, and the BNP content of the ventricle is about less than 1/20 of that of the atrium. Only when the ventricular wall tension increases, the high expression of BNP gene is rapidly stimulated, and a large amount of synthetic BNP is secreted into the blood. In other words, BNP is very little stored in the ventricular myocardium. A small amount of BNP is also contained in the walls of the atrial septum, atrioventricular valve, aorta, hepatic artery and pulmonary vein.