Results of the BiomarCaRE trial presented November 13, at American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions 2017 demonstrated the risk prediction capability of metabolites for incident coronary heart disease (CHD).

Tanja Zeller, DPhil, et al., looked at 141 serum metabolites in 10,741 individuals. The median follow-up time was 13.9 years.

Results showed that 24 of the metabolites were associated with incident CHD (P<=0.05). In addition, a 4-metabolite panel (including amino acids asparagine and glutamate, and glycerophospholipids PCaaC34:3 and PCaeC44:5) was "strongly associated with CHD." The researchers explain that individuals with the highest levels of the 4-metabolite panel were at a four times higher risk of CHD (with a HR of 4.09 (CI 2.98; 5.63).

The researchers conclude that the 4-metabolite panel might sever as novel biomarker for CHD and our data demonstrate the value of metabolomics for biomarker discovery and improved risk stratification.