Protein believed to play key role in heart disease
Agence France-PresseWashington, January 7, 200517:03 IST
US researchers said Thursday that a protein produced by the body during inflammation is a bigger cause of heart disease than cholesterol.
The research published in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medecine found that inflammation in the body can trigger heart attacks.
The cause of the trouble is a protein known as C-Reactive Protein (CRP).
"What we now have is hard clinical evidence that reducing CRP is at least as important as lowering cholesterol," said Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who led one of two new studies.
Other heart specialists cautioned that the research was too limited to clearly link CRP levels and cardiovascular disease.
They called for more studies, highlighting that one of the trials in question was done only on patients with advanced cardiovascular disease.
As such it is difficult to establish whether reducing CRP would be helpful for those in good health, they argued.
If a conclusive general link between CRP and cardiovascular disease were established, that would create a huge new market for new drugs, such as the already popular statins, to reduce the protein's level in the blood.
The two studies published in the New England Journal of Medecine were funded by drug giants Bristol-Meyers Squibb and Pfizer.
The second study, led by Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic, looked into whether CRP independently predicted heart disease progression. In both cases, researchers found the answer was yes.
US researchers said Thursday that a protein produced by the body during inflammation is a bigger cause of heart disease than cholesterol.
The research published in the latest edition of the New England Journal of Medecine found that inflammation in the body can trigger heart attacks.
The cause of the trouble is a protein known as C-Reactive Protein (CRP).
"What we now have is hard clinical evidence that reducing CRP is at least as important as lowering cholesterol," said Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, who led one of two new studies.
Other heart specialists cautioned that the research was too limited to clearly link CRP levels and cardiovascular disease.
They called for more studies, highlighting that one of the trials in question was done only on patients with advanced cardiovascular disease.
As such it is difficult to establish whether reducing CRP would be helpful for those in good health, they argued.
If a conclusive general link between CRP and cardiovascular disease were established, that would create a huge new market for new drugs, such as the already popular statins, to reduce the protein's level in the blood.
The two studies published in the New England Journal of Medecine were funded by drug giants Bristol-Meyers Squibb and Pfizer.
The second study, led by Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic, looked into whether CRP independently predicted heart disease progression. In both cases, researchers found the answer was yes.
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