Diagnosing Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) with RCLS
Diagnosing Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) with RCLS
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is an illness where plaque builds up inside the coronary arteries. The arteries play an important role in supplying oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscles, however, over time plaque builds up and can harden. This results in the arteries becoming narrow due to not being able to deliver enough oxygen-rich blood to the heart which causes angina or a heart attack to occur.1
BHF highlighted that Coronary Heart Disease was one of the UK’s biggest killers in 2010 resulting 46,000 premature deaths of which 68% were men.2
CHD is more likely with increasing age, particularly in men. These risk factors cannot be changed, however, there are other risk factors that can be modified such as blood cholesterol, being overweight or obese, smoking, lack of physical activity, unhealthy diet and stress.
You can prevent and control many CHD risk factors with heart-healthy changes and medication. Some lifestyles often increase the chance of developing the disease such as smoking, poor diet, adequate exercise therefore, there are many lifestyle changes to help control several CHD risk factors at the same time, such as physical activity which may reduce stress, lower your blood pressure, help control diabetes and help control your weight.3
Currently, there are four state of the art, fully functional ISO12025 accredited laboratories, located in Liverpool, London, Holywood and the Randox Science Park in Antrim giving RCLS the power to output to pharmaceutical, health and research markets.
Specialising in biomarker and multiplex testing in addition to standard safety and clinical testing, RCLS provides a full laboratory service to accelerate laboratory projects to completion. Our experienced project management teams are available to provide support and guidance from initial biomarker selection through to the design of a comprehensive results data package to deliver against your project aims and timelines.
Renowned for quality and reliability, the Rx Series and Evidence series are utilised by all RCLS Laboratories, guaranteeing real cost savings as well as highly-accurate flexible testing solutions. Furthermore, RCLS perform sample testing on numerous third-party analysers situated in our laboratories dependent upon the testing which is required by the customer.
RCLS can outsource the Cardiac Risk Prediction Array in their laboratory on the Evidence Investigator. We developed a rapid array which will allow all 19 SNPs to be genotyped simultaneously on one single sample. The RCLS team aim to save your laboratory time and money. By utilising our multiplex panels including the Cardiac Risk Prediction Array Panel, RCLS can offer labour saving, time reducing and cost-effective solutions for all your laboratory testing.
If you would like to find out more information about RCLS and what it has to offer contact info@rcls.com
- https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/conditions/coronary-heart-disease
- https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/our-research/heart-statistics
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronary-heart-disease/causes/
RCLS on National Heart Month
Randox Clinical Laboratories Service (RCLS) has been built on 35 years of Randox Laboratories experience. The aim of our RCLS team is to meet the time sensitive, custom-made requirements of research and clinical projects. They specialize in biomarker and multiplex testing to provide full laboratory services to aid the project aims and timelines whilst saving time and money. Currently, there are four laboratories across the UK located in Liverpool, London, Holywood and the Randox Science Park in Antrim where knowledgeable and proficient teams are situated and are available accordingly to provide support and guidance.
Continuing with National Heart Month, RCLS would like to take the opportunity to reinforce the importance of taking care of your hearts health. (WHO) highlighted Ischemic heart disease and stroke are the world’s biggest killers. An estimated 17 million people die of cardiovascular disease particularly heart attacks and strokes every year.1
Lipoprotein (a) which is also known as Lp(a) consists of two protein molecules, apolipoprotein (a) or apo(a). It is a large lipoprotein particle made by the liver. The Apo(a) particle is a very sticky protein particle, thought to be involved in the clotting system and its addition can be likened to adding a patch of Velcro on to a normal LDL particle. 2 Having some cholesterol and Lp(a) in your blood is normal however, high levels of LDL cholesterol would increase your risk of having some serious heart implications.
It has been highlighted in recent research that blood levels of Lp(a) could be an important indication as it is currently the strongest inherited risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease and stroke. Globally, one in five people have high levels of Lp(a) greater than 50mg 3. As a result, gradually narrow the arteries, limiting blood supply to the brain, heart kidney, legs and can also increase the risk of blood clots, heart attack and stroke.
High Lp(a) can also be related to other common risks factors of cardiovascular diseases for example, smoking, diet, diabetes, high blood pressure and lack of exercise. Therefore, it is possible that those who appear “healthy” can have high Lp(a) in their genes and still be at high risk of cardiovascular diseases.
The Lipoprotein(a) Foundation strongly emphasized that the Lp(a) test would be advised if you have the following:
- If there is a family who has history with cardiovascular disease including stroke, heart attack, circulation problems in the legs and/or narrowing of the aorta, at a young age. If someone in your family has high Lp(a), their children have a 50/50 chance inheriting it.
- Stroke or heart attack are classical risk factors including high LDL-cholesterol, obesity, diabetes and smoking have been eliminated
- High levels of LDL-cholesterol following treatment with statins or other LDL lowering medications
Randox Clinical Laboratory Services offer you our Lipoprotein (a) assay as well as our variety of analysers across all RCLS laboratories including our RX Series and Evidence Series as well as third party analysers ensuring the testing abilities are diverse. The Randox Lp(a) assay is one of the only methodologies on the market that detects the non-variable part of the Lp(a) molecule providing accurate and consistent results.
If you would like more information on RCLS please contact info@rcls.com
Infection: Making Sure You Get the Right Treatment
When you have an infection, it’s important to receive the correct diagnosis in order to access appropriate treatments. Misdiagnosis can not only lead to the prolonging of the infection, but could also prove detrimental to your long-term health, such as if you become resistant to certain anti-biotic strains through mistaken prescription.
Throughout this month, we’ve been highlighting how the Randox clinical product range can assess the impact of infection. The RX series’ dedicated testing panel comprises of IgA, hsCRP and ASO which are also available for third-party use. The extensive QC range caters for assessment of infectious disease testing in both liquid and lyophilised formats.
Reagents
The Randox range of third-party reagents enables the clinical analysis of 113 different analytes with comprehensive range measurements and excellent correlations to reference methods.
IgG (the most abundant antibody) and IgM (the first antibody made in response to infection) can be used in the diagnosis of Dengue Fever. This is significant as more than 40 % of the global population, in more than 100 countries, are at risk of the Dengue Virus.
IgA is an antibody that lines the mucous membranes lining the mouth, airways and digestive tract. A deficiency in IgA is common in patients with bronchitis, conjunctivitis and otitis media.
Other Randox assays that may be used to detect differing infections include: albumin, ferritin, alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT), complement C3, complement C4, haptoglobin, CRP, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) and anti-streptolysin (ASO).
RX series
The RX series range offers the most comprehensive testing profile for assessing infectious diseases within an individual. The RX series test menu possesses the most extensive infectious disease testing panel available to give an expansive picture of an individual’s health. The RX series zinc test will assess the levels of zinc in an individual, Zinc plays a significant role in an individual’s health s it’s functions include cell and enzyme production as well as wound healing.
To view the full RX series test menu click here.
Internal Quality Control
Randox has partnered with Qnostics to provide a wide range of molecular controls for infectious disease testing. Designed to meet the demand of today’s molecular diagnostics laboratory and laboratories carrying out Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT), the Qnostics Molecular Infectious Disease range comprises hundreds of characterised viral, bacterial and fungal targets covering a wide range of Transplant Associated Diseases, Respiratory Infections, Blood Borne Viruses, Sexually Transmitted Infections, Gastrointestinal Diseases and Central Nervous System Diseases.
External Quality Control
Randox have also partnered up with QCMD to offer a vast array of molecular EQA programmes for infectious disease testing. With an extensive database of over 2000 participants in over 100 countries, QCMD is one of the largest providers of molecular EQA in the field of molecular diagnostics.
Frequent challenges, comprehensive reports and international accreditation ensures the best assessment of test system performance.
For more information on how Randox is helping to diagnose infection accurately and effectively, visit www.randox.com.
September focus: Infection
Throughout the month of September, we will be highlighting on our social media channels how the Randox clinical range can help combat infections and infectious diseases through accurate and swift diagnosis, allowing the necessary steps to be taken in order to improve individual health.
What is infection?
Infection is the infiltration of an organism’s body tissues by disease-causing agents, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agents and toxins they produce. Infectious disease can also be known as communicable disease and transmissible disease.
How is the Randox helping to diagnose infection?
The Randox portfolio comprises of a wide range of products to combat infections including the RX series’ dedicated infectious disease testing panel, diagnostic reagents such as copper, potassium and sTfR and an extensive QC range catering for infectious disease testing in both liquid and lyophilised formats.
How can I limit my risk of contracting infection?
- The most important way to reduce the spread of infection is to wash your hands regularly with soap and water
- If you have an infection, get the appropriate vaccine and do not take antibiotics when they are not needed. This will only increase antibiotic-resistance
- Stay at home if you are sick to limit the spread of infection
- Use single-use tissues and dispose of them immediately after use
- Do not share cups, glasses or cutlery
- Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth as viruses can transfer from your hands and in to the body
How can my workplace limit the spread of infection?
- Have an infection control plan
- Provide clean hand washing facilities
- Offer alcohol-based hand sanitisers when regular facilities are not available
- Provide boxes of single-use tissues and encourage their use
- Remind staff not to share cups, glasses or cutlery
- Remove newspapers and magazines from waiting areas
- Encourage staff to regularly disinfect their workspaces
- Make sure ventilation systems are working properly
For more information on how Randox is helping to diagnose infection, visit www.randox.com/infections.
The Complete Solution to Cardiac Risk Assessment
“CVDs are the number 1 cause of death globally: more people die annually from CVDs than from any other cause”. In 2015, roughly 17.7 million people died from CVD, representing 31% of all global deaths: 7.4 million were due to coronary heart disease and 6.7 million were due to stroke. (WHO, 2017)
Cardiac health and regular cardiovascular screening is important to enable risk factors to be detected in their earliest stages. There are a few factors which contribute to CVD. These include: smoking, unhealthy diet, excessive alcohol consumption, low physical activity levels. Whilst there are only a few factors contributing to CVD, these can be maintained by the patient through living a healthy lifestyle including: quitting smoking, consuming no more than the recommended allowance of alcohol, cutting out junk food, and exercising for 30 minutes a day, 3 – 5 days a week. In a perfect world, this would be easy and CVD would not be a global problem. However, due to busy lifestyles, cravings, reduced willpower, and convenience, not all individuals in today’s world will be able to avoid CVDs. Therefore, it is vitally important that individuals are tested for CVDs to detect them in the earliest stages to reduce damage, prevent further damage, or even death. Furthermore, many individuals suffer from inherited cardiac risk factors, which stresses the need for accurate testing of both traditional and novel cardiac risk biomarkers.
Randox offer the complete solution to cardiac risk assessment including: RX analysers, traditional and novel reagents, internal quality control (Acusera), and external quality control (RIQAS).
RX Series
Randox has developed the RX series range of clinical chemistry analysers for high-quality semi-automated and fully automated testing. Choose between the RX misano, RX monaco, RX daytona+, RX imola, and the RX modena depending on the throughput of your laboratory. The RX series offers a suitable analyser for your laboratory’s needs. For more information on the Randox RX series, please click here or email therxseries@randox.com
Reagents
As previously mentioned, early assessment of cardiac risk is vital. Randox offer a range of novel risk biomarkers for both very early and the genetic assessment of cardiac risk.
The niche Adiponectin assay allows for the early assessment of CVD. Adiponectin levels are inversely correlated with abdominal visceral fat which has proven to be a strong predictor of T2DM. Body-Mass Index (BMI) is a common method for determining which patients are classified as underweight, healthy, overweight or obese, however, BMI does not take into account gender, ethnicity or activity levels. For example, measuring the BMI of athletes who have a high BMI due to muscle weighing heavier than fat would classify them as obese which is inaccurate. Measuring adiponectin levels is therefore a much more reliable indicator of at-risk patients compared to BMI.
LDL cholesterol is often referred to as the ‘bad cholesterol’. High concentrations of LDL-cholesterol is considered to be the most important clinical predictor, of all single parameters, with respect to coronary atherosclerosis. However, sLDL is a smaller, more dense subfraction of LDL-cholesterol. sLDL particles more readily permeate the inner arterial wall and are more susceptible to oxidation. Individuals with a predominance of sLDL have a 3-fold increased risk of myocardial infarction. Measurement of sLDL allows the clinician to get a more comprehensive picture of lipid risk factors and tailor treatment accordingly.
Elevated levels of Lp(a) are considered to be both a casual risk factor and independent genetic marker of atherosclerotic disorders. The major challenge associated with Lp(a) measurement is the size variation of apo(a) within Lp(a). Dependent upon the size of apo(a) in the assay calibrator, many assays under or overestimate apo(a) size in the patient sample. Numerous commercially available products suffer apo(a) size related bias, resulting in an over estimation of Lp(a) in samples with large apo(a)molecules and an under estimation in samples with small apo(a) molecules. The antibody used in the Randox method detects the complete Lp(a) molecule providing accurate and consistent results. This was proven by the IFCC who developed a gold standard ELISA reference assay and compared 22 commercially available tests. The Randox Lp(a) method displayed the least (minimal) amount of apo(a) size related bias, proving it be a superior offering.
HDL3 Cholesterol is a smaller and more dense subfraction of the HDL particle. HDL is the scavenger of cholesterol within arterial walls and the levels of HDL3 is too low, the ability to remove this cholesterol is reduced. Therefore, it is widely accepted that there is an inverse correlation between HDL3 and CVD risk.
Instrument Specific Applications (ISA’s) are available for a wide range of biochemistry analysers. Contact us to enquire about your specific analyser.
For more information on Randox Reagents, please click here or email reagents@randox.com
Acusera – Internal Quality Control
The Acusera cardiac controls have been designed to cover a wide range of cardiac markers at clinical decision levels, eliminating the extra expense of an additional low level control. The controls are available in a both liquid ready-to-use and lyophilized formats making them ideal for all situations and manufactured from 100% human serum a matrix similar to that of the patient is guaranteed. For more information on the Randox Acusera internal quality control, please click here or email acusera@randox.com
RIQAS – External Quality Control
The RIQAS Liquid Cardiac EQA programme is designed to monitor the performance of up to 9clinically significant cardiac markers including: CK-MB mass, D-dimer, Digoxin, homocysteine, hsCRP, myoglobin, NT proBNP, troponin I, and troponin T. RIQAS is ISO/IEC 17043 accredited and allows the registration of up to five instruments at no extra cost. All samples are 100% human serum and provided in a liquid ready-to-use format for enhanced convenience. Submit your results bi-weekly and view reports online via RIQAS.Net. For more information on RIQAS, the world’s largest international EQA scheme, please click here or email acusera@randox.com
For further information, please contact the Randox PR team via email: randoxpr@randox.com or phone 028 9442 2413
Focus on Chronic Kidney Disease diagnosis (CKD)
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a long term condition which involves the progressive loss of kidney function a late diagnosis can result in end stage renal disease requiring kidney dialysis or transplantation. Typically, CKD is result of a combination of other conditions which puts a strain on the kidneys, these conditions can include high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol amongst many other ailments.1
Randox Biosciences are continually researching and developing new tests, targeting various health concerns around the world to improve diagnostics and health worldwide. Recently, our dedicated scientists have developed a new test, utilising our proprietary Biochip Array Technology (BAT) that simultaneously and quantitatively detects multiple early biomarkers associated with kidney damage allowing for earlier intervention and treatment, preventing further kidney damage.
We offer two multiplex Chronic Kidney Arrays as shown below:
Early detection provides those diagnosed with the opportunity to alter their lifestyle in order to improve their kidney and overall health, whether that is through the reduction of salt in their diet, increased physical activity and alcohol limitation.
To find out more about the Chronic Kidney Disease Arrays offered by Biosciences email info@randoxbisociences.com
1 NHS – https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/kidney-disease/
