Biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases expanded
The high incidence of cardiovascular disease places a significant socioeconomic burden on developed countries. Extensive clinical research has identified biomarkers that predict the risk of heart disease, but their comparative impact among different European regions and their role in the drive towards personalised medicine remains uncertain. To address this issue, the EU-funded BIOMARCARE (Biomarker for cardiovascular risk assessment in Europe) initiative used European cohorts to perform large-scale biomarker determination. The researchers aimed to provide an overall picture on the predictive value of existing and emerging biomarkers. BIOMARCARE employed cutting-edge omics data (proteomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic and miRNA) to identify novel biomarkers based on their association with cardiovascular risk and disease phenotype. The consortium validated established and emerging biomarkers among the European population and disease cohorts and worked to identify those useful for cardiovascular risk assessment. After assessing different European populations, the researchers identified and validated cardiovascular biomarkers such as high-sensitivity troponin I, NT-proBNP as well as novel markers such as metabolites and microRNAs. BIOMARCARE partners have created a centralised data processing facility that harmonizes data from the different study sites and prepares these for analyses. These results will contribute towards a strategy for achieving individualised risk prediction of cardiovascular disease. The association of biomarkers with lifestyle choices and medication should help formulate health policies and potentially decrease cardiovascular disease incidence.
Keywords
Biomarkers, cardiovascular disease, BIOMARCARE, troponin I, microRNAs, omics
