Quantitative analysis used in CAC study

Scientists have used quantitative analysis processes to determine whether the haptoglobin (Hp) genotype could predict coronary artery calcification (CAC) progression.

A team from the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes in the US and Technion Faculty of Medicine in Israel hypothesised that as coronary artery disease has been linked with Hp genotypes, which modulate extracorpuscular haemoglobin, they could predict the progression of CAC, which is a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis.

In the study, which was published in the Cardiovascular Diabetology journal, the scientists measured CAC three times in six years in 436 subjects with type 1 diabetes and 526 control participants.

Using quantitative analysis, the team found that the Hp genotype only predicted significant CAC development in those with diabetes who had no CAC at the start of the study.

They concluded that Hp2 could have an allele-dose effect on development of CAC and may aid the forecast of accelerated coronary atherosclerosis in subjects with type 1 diabetes.

Posted by Ben Evans