Blood test for specific metabolites could reveal blocked arteries

A pilot project by Duke Health suggests that, in the near future, a blood test could indicate whether the arteries carrying blood to the heart are narrow or blocked, which is a risk factor for heart disease.

According to the 40-person study published in the journal PLOS ONE, emergency patients undergoing a treadmill stress test and showing signs of decreased blood flow to the heart also experienced changes in five metabolites in the blood in less than two hours.

All subjects in the study had gone to the emergency department with symptoms of coronary heart disease, such as chest, jaw and shoulder pain.

The researchers hope that a larger study could confirm that acute changes in these metabolites of fatty acids and amino acids, sources of energy for cells, could be an early biological indicator restricted blood flow that could supplement or even replace current tests.

"Cardiologists perform a resistance test to determine people at risk for heart disease," said lead author Alexander T. Limkakeng Jr., MD, lead author of the study and badociate professor of medicine. Emergency in Duke. "This will help them determine if they need a more invasive study, such as a catheterization." Improve the imaging of a stress test with biomarkers. metabolites could make this process more precise or more effective. "

Previous research has suggested that metabolites might indicate heart disease, but scientists still need to discover the specific metabolomic signature to look for. For the Duke study, scientists evaluated the presence of more than 60 chemicals or compounds in the blood to identify the five specific metabolites that seemed to change in patients undergoing abnormal cardiac stress tests.

The researchers hope to launch a larger study to further test this approach to detecting coronary heart disease, they said.

Provided by
Duke University Medical Center