Why test for Lp(a)?
October 16, 2024
Professor Keith Ferdinand, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, USA, discusses the advantages of Lp(a) testing for patients and their families.
Lp(a) and coronary plaque progression: Insights from imaging
July 3, 2024
Contrast CT is a very powerful technique for looking inside coronary arteries. It enables us to visualise and, with the help of modern AI systems, to quantify the amount of different types of plaque in an artery. This provides very powerful information because, if you want to predict the likelihood of a myocardial infarction (MI), at a simple level, the more plaques you have, the more likely you will have a plaque rupture event and then an MI.
The Genetics of Lp(a)
Professor Florian Kronenberg, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria Genetic studies have paved the way for our understanding of Lp(a) regulation and, most importantly, of the causal association between Lp(a) and cardiovascular (CV) outcomes, and the potential for current and future therapeutic developments.
Diversity in Lp(a) across ancestry and gender
May 23, 2024
Plasma Lp(a) concentration varies widely between individuals and according to ethnic background. An estimated 1-1.5 billion people worldwide have elevated Lp(a) (≥50 mg/dL/≥ 100-125 nmol/L), with highest levels in those of African and South Asian ancestry, followed by White and Latino populations, and lowest levels in East Asian populations.
Lipoprotein(a) as a CVD risk factor
Dr Anne Langsted, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
In recent years, there has been an upsurge of interest in Lp(a) as a result of the growing body of research supporting the association between elevated Lp(a) and cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Clinical trials targeting Lp(a)
April 9, 2024
After many years working with lipid-lowering drugs during their development, I am very happy that clinical trials are underway of multiple agents targeting Lp(a) – a protein which I have always found fascinating and which is at least six times more pro-atherogenic per particle than LDL. The novel agents that are now in development fall into three categories – antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and small molecules.
