NT-proBNP and BNP concentrations increased with age and were higher in women, but were only weakly associated with several other characteristics, including ethnicity, history of hypertension, use of antihypertensive medication, systolic blood pressure, total and HDL cholesterol concentration, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (appendix pp 21, 22, 29). The gene discussed is NPPB; the disease is hypertensive disorder.