Abstract

Plasma Extracellular Vesicle Sub-fractions as Biomarker Source for Cardiovascular Disease

Dominique PV de Kleijn, Professor Experimental Vascular Surgery; Professor Netherlands Heart Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is with the cardiovascular events of Ischemic Heart Disease and Stroke, the number 1 and 2 cause of death in the world and expect to increase especially in Asia.
Ischemic heart disease (IHD) comprises 3 entities: Chronic Coronary Syndrome (CCS or Stable Angina), unstable angina (UA) and myocardial infarction (MI). Because IHD is associated with an increased risk of adverse clinical events such as heart failure and death, early recognition of IHD is of utmost importance.

However, to diagnosis CCS is challenging, as many patients present with atypical symptoms. Troponins are the main diagnostic tool for detection of MI. Blood biomarkers for CCS (typically causing stable angina) and UA, however, are not available. These diagnoses frequently require hospital visits/admissions for time-consuming and costly (non)invasive tests. We use plasma extracellular vesicle protein content of vesicles from plasma sub-fractions as an accurate source for early diagnosis of CCS. This plasma sub-fraction technology is also used for prognosis of a second MI or stroke to identify the high risk patient that can be treated with more intensive and often more costly medication.