As covered by the journal “Nature,” a worldwide consortium of researchers has made a breakthrough by identifying biomarkers for heart disease. In the reported study, the consortium has identified 59 novel regions of the heart genome that are involved in lipid metabolism.

Lipid concentrations in the blood are one of the key risk factors for coronary artery disease. This disease, also known as CAD, is currently the leading cause of death in the world. The goal of the study was to find new biomarkers to serve as indicators of risk to this disease. These findings could serve as a foundation to the development of new drugs. By targeting the key genes involved in metabolizing the lipids, heart disease could possibly be prevented.

The consortium assembled for the study brought in researchers from a variety of institutions, including some from the UK and the US. Among the institutions represented were Stanford University, the University of Cambridge and the University of California in Los Angeles.

In the study, researchers analyzed the genome-wide association results for serum lipids in more than 100,000 individuals of European ancestry. Through this intensive study, the consortium was able to identify 95 regions of the human genome, including regions identified in previous studies and the 59 novel regions involved in lipid metabolism.

Although the study was conducted on subjects with a European ancestry, the consortium demonstrated that some of these genetic locations were shared by non-European populations. This raised the significance of the subject to global relevance.

According to Massimo Mangino of the Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, they are hopeful that this study will provide a basis for further research into CAD biomarkers and enable new drugs to combat it.

With the number of those suffering from heart disease growing yearly and the expected boom in population aged over 65, I believe that the study conducted by the consortium is a timely one. And perhaps, more research can be put into this to develop more effective drugs against the coronary artery disease.