VAP Test Improves Identification of CIMT Progression

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Expanded cholesterol assessment of moderate risk patients can play an important role in identifying and monitoring the progression of atherosclerosis. That’s according to a clinical study that used the VAP^® (Vertical Auto Profile) Cholesterol Test to analyze lipids potentially associated with carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT).

“A closer look at these moderate CHD risk patients found that use of the VAP expanded cholesterol assessment can play an important role to more accurately identify and monitor the progression of atherosclerosis as measured by CIMT progression”

The study Indicators of the Atherogenic Lipoprotein Phenotype Measured with Density Gradient Ultracentrifugation Predict Changes in Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Men and Women by Maki et al was published in the January 2012 issue of Vascular Health and Risk Management. The sub-analysis demonstrated that using the VAP Test density gradient ultracentrifugation (DGU) method, researchers were able to get a detailed look at how lipoproteins and their subfractions were associated with CIMT progression in men and women at moderate coronary heart disease (CHD) risk.

“A closer look at these moderate CHD risk patients found that use of the VAP expanded cholesterol assessment can play an important role to more accurately identify and monitor the progression of atherosclerosis as measured by CIMT progression,” said Kevin C. Maki, Ph.D., study lead author and president and chief scientific officer at Provident Clinical Research/Biofortis North America. “Density gradient ultracentrifugation clearly provides a level of clinical detail about lipids and subfractions not available from the standard lipid profile.”

The Maki et al study analyzed subjects from the control arm of an earlier double-blind, randomized, clinical trial designed to evaluate the effects of consumption of pomegranate juice compared to a control beverage on CIMT over a period of 18 months. Researchers investigated the relationships between baseline lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride (TG) and apolipoprotein B (apoB) levels assessed with the VAP Test and progression of posterior wall common CIMT in men and women at moderate risk of CHD.

Researchers reported that higher levels of TG-rich lipoprotein cholesterol, lower levels of HDL and HDL subfractions, and a greater proportion of LDL carried by more dense LDL particles were associated with CIMT progression in men and women at moderate risk for CHD. The atherogenic lipoprotein phenotype identified by the VAP Test is more strongly associated with CIMT progression than LDL, Non-HDL and apoB concentrations.

The atherogenic phenotype may have an important role in the initiation and progression of early atherosclerosis, and Maki said the data should provide clinicians with useful information to better predict CHD risk and more clearly understand the importance of measurement of lipoprotein subspecies.

The VAP Test is a direct and comprehensive measurement of cholesterol markers associated with heart disease, providing accurate information that can effectively identify and target risk in clinical care. The VAP Test identifies a significantly greater number of people at risk for heart disease than the standard cholesterol test.

Atherotech Diagnostics Lab provides physicians with a single source for the VAP Test and more than 50 other cardiovascular and metabolic tests. The company provides its unique testing services to physicians, hospitals, clinics and other laboratories throughout the U.S.

For information visit www.Atherotech.com or call 877-901-8510. Atherotech Diagnostics Lab is on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/Atherotech and also on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/Atherotech.

About Atherotech Diagnostics Lab

Atherotech is a CLIA-certified clinical reference laboratory and cardiodiagnostic company focusing on cardiometabolic tests, including the company’s patented VAP Cholesterol Test, which reports the cholesterol content of all lipids, components and subclasses. The VAP Test is the first cholesterol profile to comply with updated National Cholesterol Education Program ATP III recommendations for direct LDL measurement, which is accurate with non-fasting samples. The VAP Test is available through national and regional diagnostic laboratories and is reimbursed by many of the largest private insurers as well as Medicare. For more information, visit www.Atherotech.com.