New Cholesterol Sub-Fraction Test

A new cholesterol test measures how much cholesterol is in each low density lipoprotein (LDL) sub-fraction. Small, dense sub-fractions have been found to be the most harmful of the LDLs. The new test has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

As the LDL sub-fractions become smaller and denser, they can more easily penetrate the coronary artery wall and contribute to a narrowing of blood vessels. The new cholesterol test classifies patients into two distinctive profiles. Pattern A, which includes patients with larger buoyant LDL, and pattern B, which includes patients with smaller, denser LDL. Unlike prior sub-fraction tests, the new system, called Lipoprint, measures the specific amount of cholesterol present in each LDL sub-fraction. The test was developed by Quantimetrix Corp. (Redondo Beach, CA, USA).

The test allows doctors to see if a patient's LDL sub-fractions undergo any change in size from targeted drug therapy. Some cholesterol-lowering drugs may lower total cholesterol but they may also shift the patient's LDL sub-fraction profile to the larger, less-dense sub-fractions that have been shown to be a lower cardiac risk. Other cardiac drugs have shown that they actually make small dense sub-fractions smaller and therefore more dangerous. The new test can be completed in less than two hours for about 5% of the cost of previous testing methods. Only a tiny amount of blood is needed to give a complete measurement of 12 different LDL sub-fractions and 19 lipid variables.




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