Cardiac Biomarkers

Rapid and accurate diagnosis of chest pain is a critical requirement in emergency departments today. The quicker a patient can be diagnosed and receive appropriate treatment then their chance of survival is increased. ECG alone does not always successfully diagnose chest pain resulting from acute mycocardial infarction (AMI). Suitable laboratory biomarkers for near patient testing have become critical.

It has been known for many years that transaminase activity increases in patients with AMI. Creatine Kinase MB (CK-MB) was traditionally used as a biomarker, although it is not specific for cardiac muscle and it may take several hours to detect an increase above normal levels.

Myoglobin has also been used as a marker because it shows earlier rises than CK-MB and is therefore suitable for early detection/exclusion of myocardial infarction in an emergency department. However, it is less useful in patients that have been admitted to hospital whose blood samples are taken after a delay.

Troponin (I & T) monoclonal antibodies against the cardiac isoforms are now the preferred choice for detecting cardiac injury. Although like CK-MB, it still takes 5-6 hours before elevated levels are detected, the increased levels of these troponin isoforms are specific to cardiac damage. They also remain in the blood longer than CK-MB. Troponin assays are therefore more sensitive as well as being more specific. These assays can also be used to detect reinfarction and infarct size.

Our range of antibodies to cardiac markers includes the following, available in bulk for cardiac assays:

• CK-MB
• Myoglobin
• Troponin I
• Troponin T

Troponin T matched antibody pairs