NPPA and hypertensive disorder: Similar to α-ANP, theconcentration of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is higher in hemodialysispatients than in healthy volunteers, and BNP is lowered less efficiently bydialysis procedure.73 Franz et al.74 observed that, in hemodialysis patientswith moderate or severe hypertension, the levels of pro-ANP fragments andα-ANP were higher than in patients with mild hypertension.