Biomarkers of Peripheral Arterial Disease

Atherosclerotic arterial occlusive disease affecting the lower extremities is also known as peripheral arterial disease (PAD). This disorder affects 8 to 12 million individuals in the United States, and is also increasingly prevalent in Europe and Asia (1–4). Unfortunately, most patients are not diagnosed and are not optimally treated. A blood test for PAD, if sufficiently sensitive and specific, would be expected to improve recognition and treatment of these individuals. Even a biomarker panel of moderate sensitivity and specificity for PAD could refine risk-stratification, so as select individuals for diagnostic vascular examination. Alternatively biomarkers for PAD may be useful in determining prognosis or the risk for progression, or in determining the response to therapy. Finally, the discovery of biomarkers associated with PAD may provide novel insights into the pathophysiology of PAD, and new therapeutic avenues to pursue. Biomarkers may be derived from studies of the genome, transcriptome, proteome or metabolome. The focus of this review is on proteomic biomarkers associated with PAD.