Effective Cardiac Risk Assessment with the Randox Lipid Profile and hsCRP Test

Randox supply high quality diagnostic reagents for a wide range of cardiovascular risk tests including LDL, HDL, Lp(a), sLDL, hsCRP, Apolipoproteins, Total Cholesterol and Triglycerides. The Randox lipid profile along with other risk factors such as age and weight can be used to accurately assess an individual’s risk of having a cardiovascular event such as heart attack or stroke.

For ease of use and convenience Randox reagents are available in liquid ready to use formats reducing operator handling and the potential for human error. All tests are fully automated with instrument specific applications available for a wide range of chemistry analysers. Furthermore the superior methodology used by Randox ensures a high degree of accuracy and specificity compared to competitor products.

Despite the limitations of the Friedewald equation and the ultracentrifugation method many laboratories still choose to measure LDL cholesterol using these methods. To overcome such limitations Randox have developed a direct clearance method for LDL cholesterol where all non-LDL components are removed in the first step of the reaction enabling accurate and specific measurement in the second step. Randox's advanced reagent formulation enables rapid clearance of turbidity resulting in reduced interference from bilirubin and triglycerides.

Randox highly specific HDL Cholesterol assay uses the same methodology offering several advantages over laborious and often expensive ultracentrifugation and precipitation techniques. The Randox direct clearance method works by completely removing all non-HDL components in the first step of the reaction thus enhancing specificity in the detection step. A high degree of accuracy can be expected even in the presence of high levels of triglycerides or bilirubin which interfere with most other HDL methods.

Lp(a) is not routinely ordered as part of the lipid profile however because it is genetically determined and levels remain relatively constant it is often measured in individuals with a strong family history of premature cardiovascular disease (CVD). The Randox liquid ready to use Lp(a) assay provides a highly sensitive and specific method for the detection of Lipoprotein (a) in serum and plasma, furthermore it is one of the only methods to exhibit minimal Apolipoprotein (a) size related bias and is closest in terms of agreement to the ELISA reference method.

Small Dense LDL (sdLDL) is a subtype of LDL cholesterol that is more aggressive than LDL in causing atherosclerosis. To date ultracentrifugation and electrophoresis based methods which are laborious and time consuming have been used to measure sdLDL. To overcome the complications associated with these methods Randox can supply a fully automated sdLDL assay suitable for use on a wide range of chemistry analysers.

Although not a lipid, High Sensitivity CRP (hsCRP) is often measured in conjunction with the lipid profile and is of particular importance in assessing the risk of CVD in healthy individuals who are classified as low risk based on results from traditional cardiac risk tests. The Randox assay has a measuring range of 0.169 – 10mg/l allowing identification of high risk individuals with hsCRP levels above 3mg/l.

Other cardiac risk markers available from Randox include Total Cholesterol, Triglycerides and Apolipoprotein A-I, A-II, B, C-II, C-II and E. Supporting quality controls and calibrators are also available to complement Randox's extensive range of lipid tests and cardiac risk markers.

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