Lipid Profiling in Cardiovascular Risks

Srivalli Srivangipuram

Cholesterol is transported in blood by different classes of lipoproteins, which differ in their association with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Cholesterol on high density lipoproteins (HDL) is inversely related to cardiovascular disease because is believed that HDL promotes the removal of excess cholesterol from peripheral tissues and delivers it to the liver for excretion. The goal of this project is to use the statistical software “R” to analyze proteomics and NMR data sets from patients of varying levels of cardiovascular disease. Descriptive and inferential statistics will be performed on the data sets to obtain a preliminary understanding of the CVD groups of varying severity. From the proteomics data set, it can be seen if any HDL related lipoprotein is expressed differently in diseased samples and if there is an associated pattern. By monitoring the NMR signal from the terminal methyl group, both the quantity and size of the different major and minor classes of lipoproteins can be determined, and the most detailed analysis of lipoproteins can be obtained.