New Publication: What Blood Proteins Can Tell Us About Coronary Heart Disease Risk

New Publication: Plasma proteomics and incident coronary heart disease (image source: chatGPT)

Understanding why some people develop coronary heart disease (CHD) while others do not remains a major challenge in cardiovascular research. One promising approach is the systematic study of proteins circulating in the blood, which may reflect biological processes involved in disease development.

In this study published in Communications Medicine, we examined nearly 5,000 plasma proteins in participants from two large, long-running population studies. By analysing protein levels measured before disease onset, they identified a small number of proteins that were associated with the future risk of CHD, even after accounting for established risk factors. Several of these proteins were also linked to markers of subclinical atherosclerosis, suggesting a possible connection with early vascular disease.

One protein in particular, macrophage metalloelastase (MMP12), showed the strongest association with CHD. Genetic analyses using Mendelian randomization suggested that higher circulating levels of MMP12 may be linked to a lower risk of CHD and ischemic stroke, while genetic predisposition to CHD appeared to be associated with higher MMP12 levels. These findings point to a complex relationship between MMP12, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular risk.

Overall, this work demonstrates how large-scale plasma proteomics, combined with genetic analyses, can help identify proteins associated with coronary heart disease and provide clues about underlying biological mechanisms. While the results do not establish definitive causal pathways, they suggest that caution may be warranted when considering therapeutic strategies that inhibit MMP12, and highlight the potential value of proteomic approaches in cardiovascular research.