Thank G-D my doctor is way ahead of you.
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Protein found not the cause of attacks
CRP may identify patients at risk
By Michelle Fay Cortez, Bloomberg | October 30, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS - C-reactive protein, a molecule being investigated as a potential target for drugs to prevent heart attacks and strokes, doesn't cause those conditions, researchers discovered unexpectedly.
For the past decade, studies linked high levels of CRP, a marker of inflammation, to a variety of heart ailments. Investigators weren't able to determine if CRP caused heart damage, the way cholesterol does, or if it simply identified people with a problem.
The issue has become one of the most controversial topics in cardiovascular medicine. The theory that the protein serves as a marker, rather than a cause, of heart disease appears accurate, the researchers said.
The findings are a setback for companies developing drugs to lower CRP levels, said the senior author, Borge Nordestgaard, a professor of genetic epidemiology at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark. While tests for CRP can identify patients who are most likely to have a heart attack or stroke, lowering the level of the enzyme isn't likely to help avert those conditions, he said in a telephone interview.
"There is probably a third factor that caused both elevated CRP and risk of heart attacks," Nordestgaard said.
The missing link is likely atherosclerosis, an inflammatory disease that occurs when fatty plaque builds up in the arteries, he said. High levels of inflammation raise CRP and can make plaque prone to rupture, Nordestgaard said.
Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., based in Carlsbad, Calif., started a phase 1 study in August of a drug that inhibits production of CRP. The Millennium Pharmaceuticals unit of Osaka, Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. presented phase 2 results in November 2007 for a drug to reduce CRP.
The Danish researchers performed genetic tests on more than 50,000 people in Denmark, identifying those with variations that raised their CRP levels from birth. On the basis of previous work, the researchers expected that people with the genetic variations would have an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. That finding, the study's main hypothesis, failed to materialize.
The study appears today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
© Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company
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