Newer biomarkers add small improvement in cardiovascular risk prediction to established risk factors

In the study, scientists followed 3209 participants in the Framingham Heart Study for 10 years and measured 10 of the most promising ‘novel’ biomarkers for predicting the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The newer biomarkers such as natriuretic peptides, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, urinary albumin, and homocysteine were compared with established risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol.

Measuring several biomarkers simultaneously, referred to as the “multimarker” approach, enabled the scientists to stratify risk. They found that persons with high multimarker scores had a risk of death four times as great and a risk of major cardiovascular events almost two times as great as persons with low multimarker scores. However, the use of multiple biomarkers added only moderately to the overall prediction of risk based on conventional risk factors.

“Multiple Biomarkers for the Prediction of First Major Cardiovascular Events and Death,” was funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. Daniel Levy, M.D., Director of the Framingham Heart Study, is available to comment on the study’s affirmation of the importance of traditional risk factors. He can also discuss the promise of new biomarkers –despite their modest enhancement over conventional risk factors– in identifying individuals at high risk for cardiovascular events. In addition, Levy can comment on NHLBI’s recently announced large-scale biomarker project, a proposed biomarker consortium to conduct research on novel CVD biomarkers and develop new diagnostic tests to identify individuals at high risk for CVD and its risk factors.