Intravenous diuretic and vasodilator therapy reduce plasma brain natriuretic peptide levels in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of BNP (Nesiritide), published as a randomized controlled trial.

The researchers aimed to evaluate the effects of a diuretic and a vasodilator on plasma BNP levels and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD).

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 20 patients taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

Forty patients with an AECOPD and high plasma BNP levels, but without any clinical evidence of cor pulmonale, were selected.

The patients were randomly divided into two groups of 20 patients.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got BNP (Nesiritide) and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

In addition to standard treatment for AECOPD, the patients in group I were treated with a mild diuretic, and those in group II were treated with the diuretic and a vasodilator.

Twenty patients with stable COPD were selected as a control group.

Plasma BNP concentrations were measured on admission and on the third and sixth days.

The patients' HRQOL was evaluated using the short-form 36-item (SF-36) questionnaire before and after treatment.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Aminophylline, Bronchodilator Agents, Disease Progression, Drug Combinations, Furosemide, Glucocorticoids and Health Status.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of BNP (Nesiritide) in 20 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

Results are reported in around 3 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2012 (Respirology (Carlton, Vic.)), a journal based in Australia.

More context: the BNP (Nesiritide) compound page, all human trials.