SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.,
May 19 /PRNewswire/ — A
meta-analysis of approximately 80,000 individuals from 32
prospective studies was published in The Lancet on
May 1, 2010. The data shows that
elevated levels of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2
(Lp-PLA2), a vascular-specific inflammatory enzyme, are associated
with an increased risk of coronary heart disease similar in
magnitude to that with non-HDL cholesterol or systolic blood
pressure. The analysis by the Lp-PLA2 Studies Collaboration
entitled, “
Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 and risk of coronary
disease, stroke, and mortality: collaborative analysis of 32
prospective studies,” was led by Drs. Alexander Thompson and John Danesh of The University of Cambridge, England.

“More than 600,000 deaths occur annually as a result of coronary
heart disease. Risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, high blood
pressure and increased levels of LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol often
fail to account for coronary heart disease in patients,” said Dr.
Peter Toth, director of Preventative
Cardiology at Sterling Rock Falls Clinic in Illinois, who was not involved in the
study. “This data further demonstrates the benefit of measuring
Lp

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