Ensuring Quality Measurements of Cardiovascular Biomarkers

Blood lipid tests have been used for decades to determine cardiovascular disease risk, but that doesn’t mean the science isn’t still evolving. New biomarkers are emerging as potential alternatives or additions that could better assess patients’ cardiovascular risk or identify more patients who could benefit from heart-health interventions.

During a roundtable discussion, Ensuring Quality Measurements of Emerging and Traditional Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Diseases: The CDC Cardiovascular Disease Biomarker Standardization Programs, at the 2023 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo, Alicia Lyle, PhD, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will describe recent work by the CDC’s Cardiovascular Disease Biomarker Standardization Programs (CVDSP) to assess and standardize lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I), and apolipoprotein B (apoB) measurements.


She will also share information on point-of-care testing devices in this area, including the CDC’s research on whether testing with whole blood “may or may not be different from serum measurements for which they’re standardized,” she said. The CDC is “trying to make sure we’re helping stakeholders beyond the CDC who are interested in seeing the standardization of some of these biomarkers that are relevant to patient care.”

In addition, the roundtable will address guidelines from the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology that now recommend LDL cholesterol targets of 70-100 mg/dL, and the complications that have arisen from trying to test all patients at those levels. Per the CDC’s monitoring, “some of the measurements within those concentration ranges aren’t as accurate and measurement performance is also impacted by the presence of comorbidities,” Lyle said. As such, she will present information on how that affects testing results in patients with conditions like high triglycerides and diabetes.

The CVDSP is part of the CDC’s Clinical Standardization Programs, which work across different aspects of patient care to ensure that clinicians and patients are getting the best information possible to guide treatment. Lyle will also provide a brief overview of programs for traditional lipid biomarkers and other services offered by the CDC’s Clinical Standardization Programs.

“Within the Division of Laboratory Sciences, our group directs clinical standardization programs to improve patient care and public health by ensuring that lab measurements are accurate and reliable,” said Lyle.

While Lyle is leading the roundtable, she stressed that her presentation reflects the work of many professionals at the CDC, and she hopes to give her colleagues feedback from the conference to help them move forward.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to make sure that people are aware of some of the places where improvements are needed and necessary, whether those are laboratorians, clinicians or assay manufacturers,” Lyle said.

In addition to looking forward to presenting the CDC’s work, she’s excited for the opportunity to “get to know people within this space.” Lyle worked in academia before joining the CDC. “It’s nice to be able to meet colleagues in person, get to know people you communicate with via email, and learn new science.”