Fibrinogen Test Helps Assess Heart Disease Risk

A study of 2,632 subjects has shown that a fibrinogen test can help predict the risk of developing heart disease, thereby demonstrating that the blood clotting protein fibrinogen is a common pathway by which other risk factors cause the disease. The study's subjects were participants in the U.S. Framingham Offspring Study, a continuation of the famed Framingham Heart Study begun more than 50 years ago.

The study utilized the Functional Intact Fibrinogen (FiF) test, developed by American Biogenetic Sciences, Inc. (ABS, Copiague, NY, USA) and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FiF test results demonstrated a stronger association with cardiovascular disease than the Clauss method, the current standard.

In the Clauss assay, fibrinogen is measured indirectly as a function of clotting time. In contrast, the FiF assay employs a fibrinogen-specific monoclonal antibody, developed by ABS's patented antigen-free mouse technology. This assay directly measures the fibrinogen concentration. The study, published in Circulation (2000;102:1634-1638), was conducted by scientists at Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA, USA) and Boston University (MA, USA).

We not only found fibrinogen levels to be higher in people with heart disease but it also seems to be a common pathway by which other risk factors cause heart disease, said Geoffrey H. Tofler, M.D., a participating scientist in the study.