ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To conduct a comprehensive, systematic review of studies assessing the significance of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A review of the literature was performed using the search term "Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2)" and each of the following terms: "cardiovascular risk," "cardiovascular death," "atherosclerotic disease," "coronary events," "transient ischemic attack (TIA)," "stroke," and "heart failure." The searches were performed on Medline, Google Scholar and ClinicalTrials.gov. RESULTS: The majority of published studies showed a significant association between Lp-PLA2 levels and cardiovascular events after multivariate adjustment. The association was consistent across a wide variety of subjects of both sexes and different ethnic backgrounds. CONCLUSIONS: The role of Lp-PLA2 as a significant biomarker of vascular inflammation was confirmed, and Lp-PLA2 seems to be closely correlated to cardiovascular events. It may be an important therapeutic target and may have an important role in prevention, risk stratification and personalised medicine.
