MESA

PREVU* POC Skin Sterol Test is included in a sub-study of a major U.S. clinical trial sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which is part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). MESA is evaluating a variety of methods, including skin cholesterol, for identifying subclinical (hidden) heart disease and/or predicting the transition from subclinical disease to overt cardiovascular disease.

Initial study findings were presented at the American Heart Association 2003 Annual Meeting. In the skin cholesterol study cohort, 222 adults with no known cardiovascular disease were tested. Skin cholesterol levels significantly correlated with the presence of coronary artery calcification, which is thought to be predictive of cardiovascular events. The data shows skin cholesterol to be an effective indicator of subclinical cardiovascular disease.

Data published in 2005 in Atherosclerosis further showed that skin cholesterol appears to be at least as predictive of the presence of coronary calcium as traditional risk factors, including serum lipid measures. Skin cholesterol levels significantly correlated with the presence of coronary artery calcification, independent of serum lipids and lipoproteins in Caucasian subjects. The data showed that a 1-standard deviation increase in skin cholesterol was associated with a 187 percent increase in the odds of having calcium in the coronary artery. Neither skin cholesterol or serum lipids/lipoproteins demonstrated a correlation to coronary calcium in African-Americans.

The MESA study includes 6,500 participants from a variety of ethnic groups (Caucasian, African American, Hispanic and Asian American), at six U.S. sites. It is an eight-year prospective study designed to evaluate a variety of methods, including skin cholesterol, for identifying subclinical disease (disease with no overt symptoms), and for monitoring the progression of subclinical disease into overt cardiovascular disease.

View Abstract - Non-Invasive Skin Cholesterol Measurement Correlates with                      Presence and Extent of Coronary Calcium