Patent ID: 7527939

Claim:
A process for identifying a patient with congestive heart failure of New York Heart Association (NYHA) classes III or IV by determining concentration of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in a bodily fluid sample, comprising: (a) obtaining isolated polyclonal antibodies specific for amino acid residues 26-51 of SEQ ID No: 1 and attaching said isolated polyclonal antibodies to a solid support; (b) obtaining a sample of a bodily fluid from said patient wherein said sample is suspected of containing immunogenic fragments of NT-proBNP; (c) adding said sample to said isolated polyclonal antibodies of step (a) wherein said immunogenic fragments of NT-proBNP contained in said sample are captured by said isolated polyclonal antibodies; (d) providing monoclonal antibodies produced by a hybridoma cell line designated as 6G11-F11-D12 and deposited with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) as Accession Number PTA-4844, wherein said monoclonal antibodies are specific for amino acid residues 1-25 of SEQ ID NO:1; (e) labeling said monoclonal antibodies with a detector; (f) adding said monoclonal antibodies of step (e) to said immunogenic fragments of NT-proBNP captured in step (c) wherein said monoclonal antibodies of step (e) bind to said immunogenic fragments of NT-proBNP captured in step (c); (g) adding a reporter that reacts with said detector to form a reaction product; and (h) measuring said reaction product to determine concentration of NT-proBNP in said sample; and (i) determining if said concentration of NT-proBNP in said sample is elevated above a selected cut-off concentration indicative of concentration of NT-proBNP in a sample of said bodily fluid from a normal human; wherein said elevated concentration identifies that the patient has congestive heart failure of NYHA classes III or IV.