About Our Test

WHY TEST FOR OXIDIZED LDL

oxLDL is well known to be a key player in the formation of atherosclerotic plaque and is thus a cause of cardiovascular and related diseases (ref. 1-3). Foam cells develop in the vascular wall as the result of the interaction of macrophage with oxLDL, forming the plaques that are characteristic of atherosclerosis. Indeed, oxLDL is found by immunohistochemistry (with the anti oxLDL 4E6) to be present in this plaque tissue (ref 4). Not surprisingly, a strong correlation has been found between the concentration of circulating oxLDL and the existence of atherosclerosis (for example see ref 4-8). Most importantly, circulating oxLDL levels are treatable with lipid-lowing statins drugs (ref 8-9) which have been shown to reverse plaque formation (ref 8).

WHY MEASURE OXIDIZED LDL WITH THE 4E6 ANTIBODY

oxLDL is a highly polymorphic disease marker, having different sizes (small dense LDL versus large buoyant LDL) and varying oxidation states (ref 2, see chapter 16). In-vitro studies have shown that human macrophage recognize and engulf only the more highly oxidized fraction of oxLDL, the step that’s necessary to form foam cells (ref 5, 10-12) . The 4E6 antibody was raised and screened for using oxLDL that was oxidized to the extent that is necessary for this recognition by the macrophage (ref 10). The 4E6 antibody is thus specific for the type of oxLDL that causes atherosclerosis.

VERIFIED MEDICAL EFFICACY

Since the first report in the late 1990’s, immunoassays built with the 4E6 antibody have been shown to be effective in detecting atherosclorosis in a vaiety of disease states, including cardiovacular disease, stroke, reneal disorders, metabolic syndrome, pre-eclamsia, and has been shown to be progostic in many (e.g. ref 7, 8). Please refer to the notebook section of our website for a detailed review of examples of these studies. In addition, reviews of the literature can also be found on the Mercodia website in the form of posters (see related material).

REFERENCES