NPPB and Hypertension: In 2007, Wang et al. reported that among 1,456 nonhypertensive Framingham Heart Study participants, mean age 56 years, 232 participants had developed hypertension over a mean follow-up of 3 years, but plasma BNP was not related to the incidence of hypertension, whereas significant positive associations were found for C-reactive protein, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, and urinary albumin/creatinine ratio [32].