NU 2020-158
INVENTORS Guillermo Oliver* Stanley Rockson
SHORT DESCRIPTION A new biomarker for identifying lymphatic vasculature diseases
BACKGROUND Lymphatic vasculature defects often result in disfiguring, disabling, and, occasionally, life-threatening outcomes. Diagnostic tools for all of the lymphatic disorders are relatively limited, relying chiefly on cumbersome and expensive imaging techniques. There has been a historical desire to identify biomarkers that might assist in the diagnostic approach to patients with lypmhatic vasculature defects like chronic edema, which is estimated to affect 5-10 million people in the United States. However, for these patients, there are no tools for objective validation of differential diagnosis. Lymphatic vasculature diseases are frequently misdiagnosed as obesity, leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment and, conversely, the obese population in the U.S. likely harbors a substantial cohort of patients whose obesity exists on the basis of these types of diseases.
ABSTRACT Northwestern researchers have identified a biomarker that allows for the confident identification of lymphatic vasculature disease lymphedema, and lipedema. This biomarker also leads to a quantifiable differentiation from asymptomatic lymphatic vasculature diseases and other pathologies such as obesity. Lymphatic diseases are common and are highly morbid because they are often diagnosed when the disease is at an advanced stage. Usually, the diseases are discovered via expensive and invasive MRI imaging procedures. This Northwestern technology analyzes patient blood samples to identify the presence and level of a biomarker, platelet factor 4, for lymphatic vasculature diseases. Platelet factor 4 is a common protein associated with wound healing and is purified from the blood sample of the patient for the diagnostic test. The cheaper and more accessible testing for lymphatic vasculature disease could increase the likelihood of diagnosing the lymphedema, lipedema, and lymphatic vasculature disease at an earlier stage, leading to a lower mortality rate for patients. Especially for women since lipedema mostly affects women and there are few diagnostic tools. This invention occupies a niche that currently has no competitors and provides a solution for a diagnostic problem that is large in scope and magnitude.
APPLICATIONS
ADVANTAGES
PUBLICATIONS Ma W, Gil H.J., Escobedo N, Benito-Martín A, Ximénez-Embún P, Muñoz J, Peinado H, Rockson S.G., and Oliver, G (2020) Platelet factor 4 is a biomarker for lymphatic-promoted disorders. JCI Insight. 5(13).
IP STATUS A provisional patent application has been filed.
Platelet Factor 4 is purified from blood exosomes circulating the body. Then this biomarker is measured versus a reference concentration to determine the presence of defective lymphatic vasculature.