Cardiac Biomarkers: Invasive to Non-invasive Assessments

Area of Science:

• Biomarkers and Diagnostics
• Cardiovascular Health
• Translational Medicine

Background:

• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading global cause of mortality, projected to increase significantly.
• Current diagnostic methods for CVD often require invasive procedures and complex analysis.
• There is a need for simpler, faster, and non-invasive methods for emergency unit screening and early risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review existing cardiovascular disease biomarkers in both blood and saliva.
• To evaluate the correlation between non-invasive salivary biomarkers and invasive blood-based diagnoses.
• To explore the potential of salivary C-reactive protein (CRP) as a viable diagnostic marker for cardiac risk.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of studies on CVD biomarkers in blood and saliva.
• Analysis of historical cardiac biomarkers, including cardiac troponin I (cTnI).
• Examination of correlations between salivary and blood-based diagnostic markers, focusing on C-reactive protein (CRP).

Main Results:

• Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) has been a traditional gold standard but requires invasive blood sampling.
• Salivary C-reactive protein (CRP) demonstrates a better correlation with non-invasive and invasive diagnoses compared to other salivary markers.
• Despite low concentrations, salivary CRP can be detected at pg/ml levels using current technologies.

Conclusions:

• Salivary CRP holds significant potential as a non-invasive biomarker for early cardiovascular risk assessment.
• The use of salivary biomarkers like CRP could simplify sample collection and expedite diagnostic processes in emergency settings.
• Further development of salivary CRP detection could revolutionize forefront diagnostics for CVD.