Patent ID: 7713747

Claim:
A method of determining the risk of atherosclerosis in an individual, wherein the method consists essentially of: (a) contacting a test blood sample from said individual with an antibody-binding sorbent bound to a solid support and removing from the sample anti-lipoprotein immune complexes bound to the antibody-binding sorbent; (b) contacting a control blood sample from a healthy individual with an antibody-binding sorbent bound to a solid support and removing from the sample anti-lipoprotein immune complexes bound to the antibody-binding sorbent; (c) measuring the level of cholesterol or lipoprotein associated with said anti-lipoprotein immune complexes from the test sample; (d) measuring the level of cholesterol or lipoprotein associated with said anti-lipoprotein immune complexes from the control sample; and (e) comparing the level of cholesterol or lipoprotein associated with said anti-lipoprotein immune complexes from the control sample measured in step (d) with the level of cholesterol or lipoprotein associated with said anti-lipoprotein immune complexes from the test sample from the individual measured in step (c); wherein an increased level of cholesterol or lipoprotein associated with said anti-lipoprotein immune complexes in the test sample as compared to the control sample from the healthy individual determines increased risk of atherosclerosis in the individual.