James D. Otvos, Ph.D.
is an academician/researcher/entrepreneur in
nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique to observe local magnetic fields around atomic nuclei. The sample is placed in a magnetic fie ...
who has pioneered and published, since the later 1970s, extensive research on the roles of the various
lipoprotein
A lipoprotein is a biochemical assembly whose primary function is to transport hydrophobic lipid (also known as fat) molecules in water, as in blood plasma or other extracellular fluids. They consist of a triglyceride and cholesterol center, su ...
s in cardiovascular disease and lead the company, LipoScience, which developed the Vantera Analyzer.
From 1950 (when the first research was published identifying lipoproteins as the primary driver of the atherosclerosis process
) through the 1990s, the basic science work which led to sub-fractionation of lipoprotein particles:
chylomicrons (AKA
ULDL),
VLDL
Very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), density relative to extracellular water, is a type of lipoprotein made by the liver. VLDL is one of the five major groups of lipoproteins (chylomicrons, VLDL, intermediate-density lipoprotein, low-density lipo ...
,
IDL,
LDL
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is one of the five major groups of lipoprotein that transport all fat molecules around the body in extracellular water. These groups, from least dense to most dense, are chylomicrons (aka ULDL by the overall densit ...
&
HDL had long remained too expensive for routine use in clinical medicine. This issue was (and is) complicated by the multiple sub-distinctions within these groupings.
While this work was a giant breakthrough in understanding how fat molecules (needed and manipulated by all cells in the body) are carried within the water-based
blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...
and
intracellular
This glossary of biology terms is a list of definitions of fundamental terms and concepts used in biology, the study of life and of living organisms. It is intended as introductory material for novices; for more specific and technical definitions ...
transport systems, work which led to a
Nobel prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
in
Medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
in 1985 for identification of the
LDL receptor
The low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) is a mosaic protein of 839 amino acids (after removal of 21-amino acid signal peptide) that mediates the endocytosis of cholesterol-rich low-density lipoprotein (LDL). It is a cell-surface receptor ...
protein via which cells ingest (termed
endocytosis) LDL particles, cost (about $5,000 USD per blood sample in the 1970s for the
ultracentrifugation and
gradient-gel electrophoresis methods which had been developed and utilized in earlier research) remained a major barrier to clinical use of this valuable information.
In the early 1990s, given increasing evidence and understanding of the role which the many different
lipoproteins
A lipoprotein is a biochemical assembly whose primary function is to transport hydrophobic lipid (also known as fat) molecules in water, as in blood plasma or other extracellular fluids. They consist of a triglyceride and cholesterol center, su ...
(not
cholesterol
Cholesterol is any of a class of certain organic molecules called lipids. It is a sterol (or modified steroid), a type of lipid. Cholesterol is biosynthesized by all animal cells and is an essential structural component of animal cell mem ...
per-se) played in the usual progression of atherosclerotic disease, Dr. Otvos began novel research work in using NMR spectroscopy to quantify the lipoproteins in first primate and then human plasma. This in turn led to giant decreases in cost while improving accuracy.
His work has led to several rewards
for both accuracy and, even more importantly, for great reductions in the cost to patients of having quantitative lipoprotein fractionation; it is no longer just an expensive research tool but has become low enough in cost for most physicians and patients to use the methodology to greatly improve treatment strategies and greatly reducing cardiovascular event rates without resorting to only arterial bypass surgery or angioplasty/stents to treat the symptoms of advanced disease, often after the individual has become permanently disabled.
See also
*
Artery
An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the pu ...
*
Atheroma
An atheroma, or atheromatous plaque, is an abnormal and reversible accumulation of material in the inner layer of an arterial wall.
The material consists of mostly macrophage cells, or debris, containing lipids, calcium and a variable amount o ...
*
Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheromatous plaque. At onset there are usually no s ...
*
Coronary circulation
*
Cerebral circulation
Cerebral circulation is the movement of blood through a network of cerebral arteries and veins supplying the brain. The rate of cerebral blood flow in an adult human is typically 750 milliliters per minute, or about 15% of cardiac output. Art ...
*
vein graft disease,
coronary artery bypass surgery,
great saphenous vein
The great saphenous vein (GSV, alternately "long saphenous vein"; ) is a large, subcutaneous, superficial vein of the leg. It is the longest vein in the body, running along the length of the lower limb, returning blood from the foot, leg and thi ...
,
vascular surgery
*
Lipoprotein
A lipoprotein is a biochemical assembly whose primary function is to transport hydrophobic lipid (also known as fat) molecules in water, as in blood plasma or other extracellular fluids. They consist of a triglyceride and cholesterol center, su ...
*
HDL,
LDL
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is one of the five major groups of lipoprotein that transport all fat molecules around the body in extracellular water. These groups, from least dense to most dense, are chylomicrons (aka ULDL by the overall densit ...
,
IDL VLDL
Very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), density relative to extracellular water, is a type of lipoprotein made by the liver. VLDL is one of the five major groups of lipoproteins (chylomicrons, VLDL, intermediate-density lipoprotein, low-density lipo ...
and
Chylomicron
Chylomicrons (from the Greek χυλός, chylos, meaning ''juice'' (of plants or animals), and micron, meaning ''small particle''), also known as ultra low-density lipoproteins (ULDL), are lipoprotein particles that consist of triglycerides (85 ...
s (AKA
ULDL)
*
ApoA-1 Milano
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otvos, Jim
American biochemists
Spectroscopists
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)