NPPB and Hypertension: Although this study is the first prospective study to report that lower serum concentrations of NT-proBNP are associated with an increased risk of hypertension, some cross-sectional studies have reported that BNP or fragments of the BNP prohormone exhibit a biphasic dose-response relationship with blood pressure and various anthropometric and metabolic variables associated with an increased risk of hypertension [19–21,28].