ABSTRACT
Novel biomarkers could facilitate the diagnosis of subclinical cardiovascular disease or aid risk stratifi cation in patients with clinically manifest disease. In addition, such biomarkers could fi nd other important applications as surrogate endpoints that could accelerate the approval process for new drugs. In addition to circulating biomarkers, ongoing studies are exploring plaque biomarkers that can be exploited in imaging modalities and “omics” studies will provide new insights into the biomarker properties of circulating cells. Microparticle proteins are still at the stage of identifi cation of the different proteomes. In this chapter we summarize the current knowledge in the fi eld and highlight both future avenues for research and potential clinical applications.
