LabMedica

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

Precision Medicine Blood Test Predicts Heart Disease Before It Occurs

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 09 Oct 2024
Print article
Image: The CardioGENE precision medicine blood test predicts heart disease and therapeutic intervention (Photo courtesy of  Shutterstock)
Image: The CardioGENE precision medicine blood test predicts heart disease and therapeutic intervention (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

A precision medicine blood test can predict heart disease before it happens and provide decision support for prophylactic therapies.

AMPEL BioSolutions (Charlottesville, VA, USA) has published a paper in the peer-reviewed journal Cell iScience that validates and expands upon the inflammatory and immune system abnormalities in the blood of individuals predisposed to heart disease, which the company first identified two years ago. By analyzing genes expressed in single cells isolated from atherosclerotic coronary artery plaques, the study revealed biomarkers that can be measured using AMPEL’s CardioGENE blood test. This innovative approach, which connects genetic predisposition to real-time molecular pathways targeted by specific drugs, has the potential to transform healthcare by enabling physicians to assess cardiovascular disease risk and select appropriate treatments. Notably, the publication shows that common genetic risk factors contributing to cardiovascular disease in non-autoimmune individuals are the same as those in patients with autoimmune inflammatory diseases such as lupus, psoriasis, Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, primary biliary cirrhosis, and celiac disease, all of whom face increased cardiovascular event risks.

AMPEL’s findings build on a cardiologist-led study published in The Lancet last year, which demonstrated that inflammation, as measured by standard tests like CRP or ESR, predicts cardiovascular risk in individuals even after lipid levels have been normalized with medication. This is the first time that cardiovascular genetic risk factors have been identified in immune and inflammatory system genes across autoimmune diseases, even in the absence of traditional risk factors like smoking, high cholesterol, or elevated blood pressure. AMPEL’s CardioGENE blood test is now poised for development as a decision-support biomarker tool. This development marks AMPEL's expansion into genetic testing, complementing its existing expertise in RNA analytics and explainable predictive AI. By identifying the relevant molecular pathways, CardioGENE will help healthcare providers prevent major cardiovascular events through targeted prophylactic treatments. Notably, FDA-approved drugs such as colchicine, along with biologics that target inflammatory cytokines and immune cells, are candidates for these preventive therapies.

“The CardioGENE blood test identifies inherited genetic markers in blood samples that drive pathways, which can be targeted by drugs,” said Dr. Amrie Grammer, AMPEL Co-Founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer. “We are confident that CardioGENE will make a difference in the lives of all Americans especially those with autoimmune inflammatory diseases who disproportionately suffer from the disease’s cardiovascular impacts.”

Related Links:
AMPEL BioSolutions

Gold Member
Antipsychotic TDM Assays
Saladax Antipsychotic Assays
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Troponin I Test
Quidel Triage Troponin I Test
New
High Performance Centrifuge
CO336/336R

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: The tiny clay-based materials can be customized for a range of medical applications (Photo courtesy of Angira Roy and Sam O’Keefe)

‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection

Thousands of commercially available glowing molecules known as fluorophores are commonly used in medical imaging, disease detection, biomarker tagging, and chemical analysis. They are also integral in... 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 Delivers 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

Pathology

view channel
Image: The UV absorbance spectrometer being used to measure the absorbance spectra of cell culture samples (Photo courtesy of SMART CAMP)

Novel UV and Machine Learning-Aided Method Detects Microbial Contamination in Cell Cultures

Cell therapy holds great potential in treating diseases such as cancers, inflammatory conditions, and chronic degenerative disorders by manipulating or replacing cells to restore function or combat disease.... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The HIV-1 self-testing chip will be capable of selectively detecting HIV in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples

As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... 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.