# Lipoprotein Metabolism and Excess Cardiometabolic Risk in South Asians

> **NIH NIH R01** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2022 · $665,725

## Abstract

Project Summary
South Asian individuals (SAs) (individuals from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and
Nepal) have markedly increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD),
premature insulin resistance, and higher risk of type 2 diabetes compared with non-Hispanic
White individuals and other groups. The global cardiovascular community has officially
recognized SA ethnicity as a “risk-enhancing factor” in the 2018 ACC/AHA Prevention
Guidelines2 as well as in the QRISK2/3 risk calculator used in the U.K. Reducing ASCVD risk
and mortality from ASCVD in SAs is a clear priority and unmet need. Our team has
demonstrated that advanced measures of lipid metabolism (protective and adverse) are
superior to traditional risk factors and conventional lipids (non-HDL-C, HDL-C, and triglycerides)
in predicting ASCVD risk. These advanced measures have been studied primarily in those of
European and African descent but not among SAs. Our overall goal is to improve
cardiometabolic risk in SAs. The specific objective of this project is to determine whether
advanced measures of lipoprotein metabolism explain the excess cardiometabolic risk in SAs.
We will leverage the NHLBI-supported Mediators of Atherosclerosis in SAs Living in America
(MASALA), the largest longitudinal cohort of U.S. SAs with extensive cardiometabolic
phenotyping (N=1,164) and compare these findings to similarly phenotyped White, Black,
Hispanic, and Chinese participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA,
N=6814). We will utilize the UK Biobank to ascertain metabolomic signatures of SAs and
incident ASCVD and diabetes (N=8,762 SAs vs. 472,780 Europeans). Aim 1: Determine the
association between advanced measures of lipoprotein metabolism and metabolic phenotypes
in SAs. Aim 2: Determine the association between advanced measures of lipoprotein
metabolism and subclinical plaque prevalence and progression and incident ASCVD in SAs.
Specific Aim 3: Determine the metabolomic signatures of South Asians compared to non-SAs
with respect to cardiometabolic phenotypes. The proposed studies are expected to provide
critical insights into the link between advanced protective and adverse measures of lipoprotein
metabolism and excess cardiometabolic risk in SAs and may eventually lead to better clinical
biomarkers specific to SAs as well as to novel interventions targeting these lipoprotein markers
in SAs. Given the excessive burden of ASCVD and diabetes in SAs, this proposal may have a
large public health benefit to this less studied but high-risk ethnic group.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10539768
- **Project number:** 1R01HL162300-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Anand Kumar Rohatgi
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $665,725
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-15 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10539768

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10539768, Lipoprotein Metabolism and Excess Cardiometabolic Risk in South Asians (1R01HL162300-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10539768. Licensed CC0.

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