Patent ID: 8420337

Claim:
A method of screening a mammalian subject to determine if the subject is at risk to develop, or is suffering from, cardiovascular disease, the method comprising: (a) detecting an amount of a biomarker present in a high density lipoprotein (HDL) subfraction, a complex containing Apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I), or a complex containing Apolipoprotein A-II (ApoA-II) isolated from a biological sample obtained from the subject, wherein the biomarker is Apolipoprotein C-IV (ApoC-IV) set forth as SEQ ID NO:1 or a portion and/or derivative thereof, wherein the derivative thereof consists of naturally occurring protein having at least 95% homology with SEQ ID NO:1, and wherein the portion thereof comprises a peptide fragment consisting of at least 6 continuous amino acids to 20 continuous amino acids from SEQ ID NO:1, and (b) comparing the detected amount of the biomarker in the biological sample to a reference amount of the biomarker determined from a control population of healthy subjects, wherein a difference in the amount of the biomarker between the biological sample and the reference amount is indicative of the presence or risk of cardiovascular disease in the subject.