Patent ID: 8030097
Filing Date: 2011-10-04
Classification: A61K,A61P,C07K,G01N,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method for characterizing a subject's risk of cardiovascular disease, comprising: obtaining a body fluid sample from a subject that exhibits neither symptoms of heart failure nor symptoms of renal dysfunction, measuring the level of lipocalin-2 in the sample, comparing the subject's lipocalin-2 level to a predetermined reference value, and characterizing the subject's risk of cardiovascular disease, wherein the predetermined reference value is determined based on lipocalin-2 levels in a population, and wherein an elevated lipocalin-2 level in the sample compared to the predetermined reference value is predictive of increased risk, and wherein the subject's lipocalin-2 level being no greater than the lowest 25% of the lipocalin-2 levels forming the population indicates that the subject has a low risk of cardiovascular disease, the subject's lipocalin-2 level ranging from the lowest 25%-50% of the lipocalin-2 levels forming the population indicates that the subject has a low intermediate risk of cardiovascular disease, the subject's lipocalin-2 level ranging from the 50%—the highest 75% of the lipocalin-2 levels forming the population indicates that the subject has an intermediate risk of cardiovascular disease, and the subject's lipocalin-2 level greater than the highest 75% of the lipocalin-2 levels forming the population indicates that the subject has a high risk of cardiovascular disease.