Blood proteins can reveal early signs of heart problems

Heart disease often develops silently, but big data provides new insights that may make it easier to detect risk earlier.

This is shown in a recent study co-led by UiB researcher Sean Bankier.

Bankier uses bioinformatics to understand the body’s complex system of blood proteins and how these proteins interact with the heart. Together with researchers from predominantly Bergen and Reykjavík, he has analysed 30 years of data from Hjartavernd (the Icelandic Heart Association) to identify proteins linked to common heart conditions.

New data analysis methods offer new answers

Instead of studying individual proteins, the researchers mapped them as one large system. This made it possible to uncover connections between blood protein levels and future risk of heart disease.

“I was very surprised by how clear the associations were,” says Bankier.

It is, however, still unclear how and why the proteins influence each other and the body’s organs, he explains.

“Some proteins react with one another in the bloodstream. Others are absorbed by organs and released again in new forms.”

This makes interpretation challenging, but the new analytical methods look promising for future heart patients.

May reduce the need for invasive tests

These new methods may improve diagnostics and patient follow up.

“We hope our findings will help us extract more information from blood samples, so that the need for more invasive tests, such as biopsies, can eventually be reduced,” says Bankier.

The use of data driven tools and bioinformatics has enabled discoveries that would not have been possible through molecular biology laboratory work alone.

“With bioinformatics, we can make predictions about entire biological systems. You cannot cure disease using data alone, but data has become an essential part of medical research. I do not see these as an alternative to labwork, they are symbiotic,” says Bankier.

If generalised, the method can also be used to find risks of other diseases.

“This analysis is transferable. That is a huge advantage,” he says.

“We already see how these networks can be used to detect other conditions, such as cancer.”
 

Reference

Bankier, S., Gudmundsdottir, V., Jonmundsson, T. et al. Circulating causal protein networks linked to future risk of myocardial infarction. Nat Commun (2025).