Cardiovascular Event (CVE) Risk Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A cross-sectional pilot study to investigate the inflammatory and genetic profiles of healthy individuals and populations at low to very high risk of cardiovascular events to develop a new blood test to predict disease risk
IRAS ID
146629
Contact name
Victoria McGilligan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Ulster
Research summary
Cardiovascular disease develops when a substance called plaque builds up in the walls of the arteries. This can start from an early age and eventually blocks the arteries stopping blood flow to the heart, causing a heart attack. Factors such as age, high cholesterol, smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease are the main risk factors for a heart attack. Currently there is no non-invasive test to predict disease risk and doctors mostly rely on the use of the above risk factors in a scoring system to predict who may be most susceptible. The disease however remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Given this and the fact that the majority of of patients who die from this disease have no previous symptoms, there is an urgent need to develop better tests to predict who is at most risk to help doctors try and prevent the occurrence of a heart attack. Recent research shows that certain components found in the blood such as inflammatory proteins and genes may predict a patient's risk of a heart attack. These components are called biomarkers. The proposed study is part of a PhD project, and the main purpose is to develop a novel blood test to help doctors predict a patient's risk of a heart attack above and beyond the currently used prediction tests. To do this we will conduct a pilot study to establish normal and abnormal levels of a panel of potential biomarkers present in the blood of healthy individuals and in patients with varying risk profiles, from low to very high risk of a heart attack. We will also investigate factors that might affect their detection. This work will be used to deign future studies that may validate this new blood test by observing patient outcomes over a long period of time and comparing this with the currently used clinical risk prediction tests.
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
14/NI/0068
Date of REC Opinion
19 Jun 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion