Imperial College London (ICL) researchers have found that testing levels of certain antibodies in the blood could help identify patients with dangerous atherosclerosis.
The findings could be key to more accurately pre-empting heart attacks in patients.
Funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF), the study used a simple blood test to identify atherosclerosis, a build-up of fatty plaques that narrow the arteries, making it difficult for blood to flow through them.
If a plaque ruptures, a life-threatening blood clot can form and block the supply of blood to the heart or brain.
CT scans have been used to detect plaques and recent imaging studies have helped researchers identify hard-to-spot ‘vulnerable’ plaques that are more likely to rupture.
However, CT scans are too costly and time-consuming to be used more widely to identify people with dangerous plaques.
Researchers from the National Heart and Lung Institute at ICL used anonymised blood samples and CT scans from the SCOT-HEART trial and tested 830 participants’ natural levels of an antibody known as anti-MDA-LDL, which binds to a type of cholesterol found in dangerous plaques.
In addition, all participants were required to have a CT scan to identify those who had life-threatening plaques.
After comparing results from the blood test results and the CT scans, researchers found that patients with the highest levels of anti-MDA-LDL had the lowest amount of plaque types in their heart arteries.
Inversely, one-third of patients with lower antibody levels had more life-threatening plaques.
The ongoing trial has already distinguished that people with more of this dangerous type of plaque are more likely to experience a serious heart or circulatory problem, including a heart attack.
“The use of an antibody blood test as an indicator of levels of dangerous plaque could certainly improve the accuracy of doctor’s risk predictions,” said Dr Adam Hartley, a researcher at the Khamis Laboratory, National Heart and Lung Institute, ICL.
The team also hopes to use antibodies to potentially provide an opportunity to treat atherosclerosis.
“Further investigations into these antibodies will reveal much more about whether they can be produced and used therapeutically,” said Professor James Leiper, associate medical director, BHF.