Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a disease that involves dysfunction of the heart and blood vessels and is the most common type of heart disease and the leading cause of death for men and women worldwide. Early detection of CAD is important to reduce mortality, prolong survival, and improve patient quality of life. In a new study, researchers describe a new diagnostic blood test that can detect CAD with a high level of accuracy, providing a non-invasive screening option for high-risk patients.

The study was conducted by researchers from multiple institutions, including Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business.

“The ideal test for coronary artery disease should be non-invasive, easy to perform, reproducible, and sensitive,” said study co-author Andrew, assistant professor of operations research at the Tepper School. Lee said. “Our findings show that blood tests can be an innovative and effective tool for diagnosing CAD.”

Studies point out that in 2017, around 9 million people died from CAD worldwide, and scientists believe that over the next 20 years, the number of people with CAD will increase by more than 40%, reaching around 11 million people. is predicted to die. Managing this disease is costly. In the United States alone, medical management of CAD is estimated to cost $100 billion annually. Currently, the most accurate and widely accepted method for diagnosing CAD is coronary angiography, which is an expensive and risky invasive procedure. CT scanning of the heart’s arteries is a non-invasive alternative for some patients, but it may not detect all cases of CAD and may incorrectly identify CAD in patients without the disease. there is.

Li and his co-authors used a nanoparticle-based diagnostic technique that introduces nanoparticles into the bloodstream and allows them to interact with the body’s proteins. When someone has CAD, the types of proteins change, so nanoparticles can “pick up” these changes by bringing together different proteins on their surface, creating what’s called a “protein corona.” Scientists can tell if CAD is present by analyzing the unique patterns in the collected proteins.

Their results suggest that such an approach can detect CAD with 93% accuracy. The versatility of the test means similar methods could be used to detect other human diseases, the researchers said.

Disease profiling using multiple nanoparticles has recently been recognized as a way to gain deeper insight into diseased plasma and achieve more accurate protein-related profiling. By studying the protein corona with different types of nanoparticles, researchers can create grid-like sensor array nanosystems that detect specific changes at the molecular level, which can help identify diseases.

“We believe this is the first time that the application of protein corona sensor arrays has been used to detect CAD,” said Yong Ga, an MD/PhD student and second-year doctoral student at Harvard Medical School. Lee says. candidate in chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a co-author of the study. “The ease of blood-based testing without side effects has great potential to reduce complications of coronary artery disease through early detection and more frequent testing.”

The study was funded by the Italian Ministry of Health and the University of Milano-Bicocca.

Abstract from Small Journal article “Protein Corona Sensor Array Nanosystem for Coronary Artery Disease Detection” by GY, Lee (Harvard Medical School), AA (Carnegie Mellon University), and Moon, I (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Katritsis, D (Hygeia Hospital and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine), Pantos, Y (Hygeia Hospital), Stingo, F (University of Florence), Fabbrico, D (University of Florence), Molinaro, R (Harvard Medical School), Taraballi, F (Houston Methodist Hospital), W Tao (Harvard Medical School), C Corbo (University of Milan-Bicocca and IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi). Copyright 2024. All rights reserved.