Lipoprotein-associated Phospholipase A2 in Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in western societies. Therefore the identification of novel biomarkers to be used as diagnostic or therapeutic targets is of significant scientific interest. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is one such protein shown to be involved in endothelial dysfunction, vascular inflammation and ather-ogenesis. Several epidemiological studies have associated high Lp-PLA2 activity with an increased risk for CAD even when other CAD risk factors or inflammation markers were included in the mul-tivariate analysis. These findings were strengthened by the results of relevant meta-analyses. How-ever, randomized trials failed to establish Lp-PLA2 as a therapeutic target. Specifically, pharmaceu-tical inhibition of Lp-PLA2 when compared to the placebo failed to demonstrate a significant asso-ciation with improved prognosis of patients with stable CAD or after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This review focuses on the available data that have investigated the potential role of Lp-PLA2 as a biomarker for CAD.