Greetings, all –

I’m Dr. Peter Toth of CGH Medical Center in Sterling, IL and I’ve been invited to serve as a guest blogger this month on behalf of Dr. Cobble. It was an exciting few days at ACC in Washington, DC, with some very promising data presented in support of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

I was honored for the opportunity to present data from two meta-analyses we conducted with researchers from Johns Hopkins, Boston University, and the University of Mississippi, both of which were presented during a poster presentation. We examined the impacts of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and remnant lipoprotein (RLP) cholesterol on a patient’s risk for hard coronary heart disease (CHD) related events. We used findings from two major studies: the Framingham Offspring study and Jackson Heart study. Both studies included men and women without prevalent CHD and used Atherotech Diagnostic’s VAP® Lipid Panel to measure levels of HDL and its subfractions as well as RLP.

The VAP® Lipid Panel allowed us to take a deeper look at a patient’s cardiac risk assessment. Findings from the study showed that while there is a link between HDL-C and CHD, HDL subfractions, specifically HDL₃-C_, was predictive of reduced risk for events while HDL₂-C was not.  This is interesting because it has long been assumed in the absence of supportive data that it is the large buoyant HDLs that are atheroprotective. It turns out this is incorrect. RLP cholesterol (the sum of cholesterol in the smallest VLDLs and intermediate lipoprotein cholesterol) was associated with an increased risk. This finding supports the use of non-HDL-C as a target of therapy for reducing risk for CHD. While further research is needed to fully confirm the impact these lipoproteins have on a patient’s risk, these findings are a critical step forward in helping clinicians develop a better understanding of the relationship between lipoproteins and cardiovascular risk. In addition, these findings show the benefit of using comprehensive lipid testing, such as the VAP® Lipid Panel, to assess risk, which may aid clinicians in creating more personalized, effective treatment plans to improve health outcomes.

There is still much work to be done in the cardiovascular disease space to help reduce risk, but there have been a number of advancements made over the past few months. I look forward to seeing how a number of new studies and findings progress over the next year.

It was a pleasure serving as this month’s Cobbles Corner guest blogger. For more information on the study presented at ACC, check out the press release at: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-data-show-benefit-of-comprehensive-lipid-testing-in-determining-risk-for-hard-coronary-heart-disease-events-253194541.html or for more information on the VAP® Lipid Panel, visit www.Atherotech.com.

Signing off,

Peter P. Toth, MD, PhD