NPPB and heart failure: We also showed that fibulin-3 was significantly upregulated in the plasma of acute heart failure patients and that fibulin-3 protein expression in these patients was significantly positively correlated with the levels of NT-proBNP (a marker of ventricular filling pressures and heart failure severity), hs-CRP (a marker of inflammation), and importantly, was negatively correlated with LVEF.