NPPB and cardiac hypertrophy: However, combination with ASIV significantly reduced the thickness of the ventricular wall, attenuated the narrowness of the ventricular cavity, decreased the ratios of HW/BW and LVW/BW and down-regulated the mRNA expression of ANP and BNP compared with Iso alone (Fig. 1), suggesting that down-regulation of ANP and BNP at least partly explains the protection of ASIV on cardiac hypertrophy.