LabMedica

Download Mobile App
Recent News Expo Clinical Chem. Molecular Diagnostics Hematology Immunology Microbiology Pathology Technology Industry Focus

Lipid Particles Test Accurately Predicts Cardiovascular Disease

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 07 Apr 2011
Print article
A blood test for low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles is a more accurate predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events than LDL cholesterol (LDL-C).

A high value proprietary blood test using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology has demonstrated that the amount of cholesterol per low-density lipoprotein particle (LDL-P) is variable and related in part to particle size, with smaller particles carrying less cholesterol.

Scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, (Winston-Salem, NC, USA), analyzed blood samples obtained at study onset from 5,598 middle-aged men and women free of cardiovascular disease, who participated in a prospective observational study. Participants were followed for a mean of 5.5 years for incident CVD events, including heart attack, coronary heart disease death, angina, stroke, stroke death, or other atherosclerotic or CVD death.

Of 319 total CVD events recorded, 159 occurred in persons with LDL-C and LDL-P numbers that disagreed. The CVD risk of these individuals tracked with LDL-P number regardless of levels of LDL-C and only LDL-P numbers were associated with incidence of CVD. LDL particle levels were measured using the NMR LipoProfile test (LipoScience Inc., Raleigh, NC, USA). LDL-P information can help clinicians personalize and refine LDL treatment decisions, particularly to minimize residual risk in patients with low LDL-C levels. Clinicians historically have used the LDL-C level, the amount of cholesterol carried within LDL particles, to determine how much treatment, if any, a patient needs.

David C. Goff, Jr., MD, PhD, an investigator in the study, said, "In many patients, the standard cholesterol test may not be sufficient to adequately manage LDL levels. Patients who achieve recommended LDL-C goals may not have achieved correspondingly low LDL-P levels and as a consequence, may need further LDL lowering." It is recommended that additional studies should be conducted to estimate the potential value of this information for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in the general population. The study was published online on February 14, 2011, in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology.

Related Links:
Wake Forest University
LipoScience Inc.




Gold Member
Pharmacogenetics Panel
VeriDose Core Panel v2.0
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Myeloperoxidase Assay
IDK MPO ELISA
New
Troponin I Test
Quidel Triage Troponin I Test

Print article

Channels

Molecular Diagnostics

view channel
Image: The Mirvie RNA platform predicts pregnancy complications months before they occur using a simple blood test (Photo courtesy of Mirvie)

RNA-Based Blood Test Detects Preeclampsia Risk Months Before Symptoms

Preeclampsia remains a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality, as well as preterm births. Despite current guidelines that aim to identify pregnant women at increased risk of preeclampsia using... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The lab-in-tube assay could improve TB diagnoses in rural or resource-limited areas (Photo courtesy of Kenny Lass/Tulane University)

Handheld Device Deliver Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the deadliest infectious disease globally, affecting an estimated 10 million people annually. In 2021, about 4.2 million TB cases went undiagnosed or unreported, mainly due to... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: Schematic illustration of the chip (Photo courtesy of Biosensors and Bioelectronics, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bios.2025.117401)

Pain-On-A-Chip Microfluidic Device Determines Types of Chronic Pain from Blood Samples

Chronic pain is a widespread condition that remains difficult to manage, and existing clinical methods for its treatment rely largely on self-reporting, which can be subjective and especially problematic... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Sekisui Diagnostics UK Ltd.