Development and validation of the OmegaSTAT prototype:A diagnostic kit to rapidly assess omega-3 status

Omega-3 fats are good for our health. When a person has low levels of omega-3s, this can lead to a number of serious health problems, such as heart disease. The typical diet in North America doesn’t have much omega-3 fat, meaning that most people have low levels of these important fats. The existing tools to measure how much omega-3 fat a person has are time-consuming and not practical to use in healthcare clinics. Therefore, a diagnostic test that is quick and easy to use is needed. The OmegaSTAT kit prototype has been developed by Pivotal Therapeutics to quickly measure the level of omega-3s in a person. What we don’t know is which blood fraction is best to use with the OmegaSTAT kit. Our work will look at different blood fractions and compare the OmegaSTAT results against existing tools. This work has incredible potential to public health by quickly identifying people who have low levels of omega-3s.

Faculty Supervisor:

David Mutch

Student:

Shannon Klingel

Partner:

Pivotal Therapeutics

Discipline:

Food science

Sector:

Pharmaceuticals

University:

University of Guelph