Clinical tools to identify individuals with unstable atherosclerotic lesions are required to improve prevention of myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke. Here, a systems-based analysis of atherosclerotic plaques and plasma from patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy for stroke prevention was used to identify molecular signatures with a causal relationship to disease. Local plasma collected in the lesion proximity following clamping prior to arteriotomy was profiled together with matched peripheral plasma. This translational workflow identified biliverdin reductase B as a novel marker of intraplaque hemorrhage and unstable carotid atherosclerosis, which should be investigated as a potential predictive biomarker for cardiovascular events in larger cohorts.
Keywords: BLVR, biliverdin reductase; BiKE, Biobank of Karolinska Endarterectomies; CAC, coronary artery calcium; CEA, carotid endarterectomy; HMOX, heme oxygenase; Hb, hemoglobin; Hp, haptoglobin; IPH, intraplaque hemorrhage; LC-MS/MS, liquid chromatography mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry; TMT, tandem mass tags; atherosclerosis; biomarkers; intraplaque hemorrhage; mRNA, messenger ribonucleic acid; omics analyses; translational studies.