Novel biomarker panel measuring endothelial injury identifies patients at risk of coronary artery syndrome and discordance with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Background: Individuals with no history of coronary artery disease can develop acute coronary syndrome (ACS), often in the absence of major risk factors including low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). We identified risk factors and biomarkers that can help identify those at discordantly high risk of ACS with normal LDL-C using a novel validated coronary artery disease predictive algorithm (CADPA) incorporating biomarkers of endothelial injury.

Methods: Five-year predicted ACS risk was calculated for 6392 persons using CADPA.

Usefulness of a Coronary Artery Disease Predictive Algorithm to Predict Global Risk for Cardiovascular Disease and Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Traditional global risk assessment for cardiovascular disease fails to identify a significant percentage of the population initially classified at low or intermediate risk of cardiovascular disease that are actually at high risk for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We examined a coronary artery disease predictive algorithm (CADPA) that includes 9 biomarkers involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis initiated by endothelial damage and repair (hepatocyte growth factor, soluble FAS, Fas ligand, eotaxin, cutaneous T cell-attracting chemokine, monocyte chemotactic protein-3, interleukin-16, hemoglobin A1c, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol), in addition to age, gender, diabetes, and family history of myocardial infarction that more accurately predicts 5-year risk of ACS to identify the patient population at discordantly high risk. We found that 34% of patients at low risk by global risk assessment and 72% of patients at intermediate risk by global risk assessment were actually at discordantly high risk for ACS.

Clinical utility of a novel coronary heart disease risk-assessment test to further classify intermediate-risk patients.

Background: Current coronary heart disease (CHD) risk assessments inadequately assess intermediate-risk patients, leaving many undertreated and vulnerable to heart attacks. A novel CHD risk-assessment (CHDRA) tool was developed for intermediate-risk stratification using biomarkers and established risk factors to significantly improve CHD risk discrimination.

Hypothesis: Physicians will change their treatment plan in response to more information about a patient's CHD risk level provided by the CHDRA test.