A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

European researchers have found evidence suggesting that small size at birth and excessive weight gain during adolescence and young adulthood may lead to low-grade inflammation, which in turn is associated with an increased risk of developing heart disease. In the study, the researchers followed 5,840 people from before birth to the age of 31. They used C-reactive protein (CRP) as a marker for general inflammation.

Previous epidemiological studies have linked environmental factors in early life with the risk of disease in adulthood, and this study by researchers at Imperial College London identifies a possible cause. The study, published last week in the European Heart Journal of the European Society of Cardiology (Sophia Antipolis, France), underlines the importance of healthy lifestyles — from the fetal period through childhood, adolescence and young adulthood — in preventing heart problems.

"Low-grade inflammation is important because it has been associated with future cardiovascular events in many population studies over the past few years and it may play a role in the development of cardiovascular disease," said one of the authors, Paul Elliott, professor and department head of epidemiology and public health medicine at Imperial College London.

Elliott and his colleagues found that when the participants in the Finnish study reached the age of 31, CRP levels were 16% higher per 1 kg lower birth weight, 21% higher per 10cms shorter length at birth, and 24% higher per 1 kg/m3 lower at birth (kg/m3 is known as ponderal index), after adjusting for potential conflicting factors.

People who were among the smallest at birth, but who then put on the most weight up to the age of 31, had the highest average CRP levels.

Dr. Ioanna Tzoulaki, first author of the study and lecturer in epidemiology at Imperial College London, said, "We compared birth weight of children participating in the Finland 1966 Birth Cohort study with their CRP levels at age 31, and found that those who had lower birth weight have higher CRP levels when they are adults, and also the other way [around] — people who had higher birth weight had lower CRP levels as adults.

"These findings lead us to conclude that small size at birth and excessive weight gain during adolescence and young adulthood may predispose to low grade inflammation, which, in turn, is associated with increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease," Tzoulaki said.

In their report, the authors said, "The finding that weight gain from adolescence to young adulthood appears to play a greater role in low-grade inflammation than weight in adolescence per se, [and] could have important implications for the primordial prevention of cardiovascular disease."

Elliott said, "Low birth weight has been associated with future cardiovascular diseases and Type 2 diabetes in many studies. This study ... provides a possible explanation for their findings: that this association might be mediated through the effects of birth size on low-grade inflammation, as measured by CRP levels."

Few heart-related problems have appeared among the study participants because they are still relatively young. However, the researchers said they intend to follow them for at least another 20 years to explore the associations between small size at birth, weight gain, low-grade inflammation and the number of cardiovascular problems that occur.

Japanese licensing deal for Corgenix

Diagnostic test kit maker Corgenix Medical (Denver) has executed a licensing agreement with the Okayama Prefecture Industrial Promotion Foundation in Japan covering new diagnostic technology for serum amyloid protein (SAP), an important serum biomarker for cardiovascular inflammation.

The technology was developed by Dr. Eiji Matsuura at the University of Okayama's Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Corgenix has had strategic alliances with researchers and academic institutions in Okayama since 2001. The company's AtherOx technology was developed in collaboration with researchers from the University of Okayama.

The company said this new agreement "opens additional avenues of technology and strengthens the collaboration with the Okayama Prefecture [a prefecture being the equivalent of a state] aimed at developing innovative and important diagnostic products in the future."

The agreement with Corgenix is the first one established between the Okayama Prefecture Industrial Promotion Foundation — a government agency promoting R&D among industry, universities and governments — and a U.S. company.

Data back Gen-Probe's Progensa prostate test

Clinical data from a study of 570 men published in the Journal of Urology support the use of Progensa PCA3 as a tool for diagnosing prostate cancer, said test manufacturer Gen-Probe (San Diego).

The company said the study "confirms that Progensa PCA3, the world's first gene-based urine test to help detect prostate cancer, can provide clinicians with valuable information that helps guide diagnosis." The test was launched last year in the UK.

Gen-Probe acquired worldwide diagnostic rights to the PCA3 gene from DiagnoCure (Quebec City) in November 2003. DiagnoCure is the exclusive worldwide licensee for all diagnostic and therapeutic applications of the gene.

"We found that the percentage of biopsy-positive men identified directly increased with the PCA3 score," said Dr. Jack Groskopf, director of oncology R&D at Gen-Probe and co-author of the study. "We also confirmed that the PCA3 score was independent of prostate size; this is important because PSA levels can be elevated in men who have enlarged prostates due to non-cancerous conditions."

Men with a PCA3 score of less than 5 showed a positive biopsy rate of 14%; however, a PCA3 score greater than 100 showed a 69% biopsy positive rate. Results were similar regardless of a patient's PSA levels or whether they had undergone repeat biopsies.

Gen-Probe said it has launched www.PCA3.org as the first patient and professional website dedicated solely to PCA3, "providing patients and healthcare professionals with information about how PCA3 can be used to help tackle the UK's most common cancer affecting males."

The test is marketed across the European Union and is offered through Medi-Lab Ltd. and The Doctor's Laboratory in the UK.