A renowned cardiologist and Robarts' Scientist has identified a strong correlation between a polymorphism of a relatively new apolipoprotein gene and severity of hypertiglyceridemia manifestation.

 

BACKGROUND: Circulating triglyceride levels is an age progressive indicator of general cardiovascular health that tends to manifest itself in patients between 50 and 60 years.  Elevated triglyceride levels correlate to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease by 32% in men and 76% in women and are independent of HDL-C levels. This has resulted in the serious consideration in North America of triglyceride level monitoring as a combinatorial strategy for determining the risk of cardiovascular disease in the aging population. 

The outcome of elevated triglyceride levels can range from benign to very severe effects including cardiovascular disease and pancreatitis.  The primary treatment for those at risk of developing cardiovascular disease is change in lifestyle and diet; making this disease the largest preventable age-related disease with the potential to save 1,700$/patient per year in related medical costs.  As triglyceride level increase is often progressive, it is difficult to predict at a particular point who will develop extreme phenotypes.

In addition to the environmental factors, genetic markers can identify individuals with a predisposition to hypertriglyceridemia. Current genetic markers, however, mostly correlate to elevated lipid levels and cannot predict to a high degree the risk of severe hypertriglyceridemia. 

An ability to stratify the progression of hypertriglyceridemia in the 315 million or 43.6% of the population across the seven major markets with elevated triglyceride levels would change the treatment regime for this group prior to the manifestation of extreme disease.  Similarly, during the development of pharmaceuticals to control dislipidemia, clinical trials might be stratified to reflect those with the statistical probability of developing the target phenotype. This may facilitate the introduction of novel and specialized therapies into the marketplace.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION: A renowned cardiologist and Robarts’ Scientist has identified a strong correlation between a number of genetic polymorphisms of a relatively new apolipoprotein gene and severity of hypertiglyceridemia manifestation. The polymorphism, while common in the general population is particularly enriched among lipid clinic patients. This polymorphism demonstrates a strong indication of marking a “second hit” in the production of severe hypertriglyceridemia with ~60% of severe hypertriglyceride patients carrying the allele.  The combination of biomarkers in the battery can generate an assessed risk indication of up to 25-fold.

POTENTIAL ADVANTAGES/USES:

 

• Can serve as a genetic battery test to determine risk for cardiovascular disease
• Can be used in combination with lifestyle, biochemical, and clinical risk factors to determine compounded risk
• Complements proposed cardiovascular risk screening protocols using circulating triglyceride levels
• Screening for the alleles is straight forward and well documented
• Can provide definitive early risk indications, and direct the treatment regime
• May serve as a stratification biomarker for patient selection in cardiovascular clinical trials

Early Stage

PATENT INFORMATION: Covered under a provisional patent application

DEVELOPMENT STAGE: Fully Developed

Available for out-licensing. A collaborative research approach involving the inventor would also be considered.