Through genetic analysis, researchers used gene expression profiles to differentiate between clinical phenotypes of VTE and distinguish high-risk patients from low-risk patients and healthy controls, in a study by published in Thrombosis Research.
Dr. Deborah A. Lewis of Duke University Medical Center and her associates used differential expression analysis to find several genes previously identified as potentially having a role in the development of thrombotic disorders, including SELP, KLKB1, ANXA5, andCD46. They then compared the genetic profiles of 107 patients, separated into low-, moderate-, or high-risk groups based on their clinical presentations of VTE, as well as 25 controls.
The most accurate comparisons were between the high-risk and low-risk groups, the high-risk group and the healthy controls, and the low-risk group and healthy controls, where the AUC levels were 0.81, 0.84 and 0.80 respectively.
“The profiles obtained … provide insights into approaches that might be useful in the identification of individuals with a single thrombotic event who are at highest risk for a recurrent VTE after completing a standard course of therapy,” the investigators wrote. For the full article, click here (Thromb. Res. 2015 [doi:10.1016/j.thromres.2015.02.003]).
