Journal updates

Remembering Akira Endo and the beginning of the ‘statin era’

July 8, 2024

Dr Jonathan Tobert, University of Oxford, UK, recalls the landmark statin research by Dr Akira Endo that has saved countless lives. The discovery of statins by Japanese scientist, Akira Endo, who died on June 5 at the age of 90 has helped prevent countless unnecessary deaths in the 35 years since the start of the […]

Spotlight on Lp(a) atherogenic mechanisms

May 10, 2024

Lp(a)-associated diacylglycerols (DAGs) and lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) have a potential role in Lp(a)-induced monocyte inflammation, according to new research investigating the atherogenicity of Lp(a).

Elevated Lp(a) linked to MACE irrespective of ASCVD history

March 20, 2024

Elevated Lp(a) is independently associated with long-term major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), irrespective of whether patients have a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).

Canadian guidelines drive Lp(a) testing

March 19, 2024

A Canadian Cardiovascular Society recommendation for measuring Lp(a) at least once in a patient’s lifetime published in 2021 has had a considerable early impact on testing in the western province of Alberta. During two years after publication, 33,249 patients had a total of 37,456 Lp(a) tests.

Raised Lp(a) predicts failure to achieve LDL-C target

March 18, 2024

Elevated Lp(a) levels influence LDL-C levels and hinder the achievement of targets in patients at very high cardiovascular risk, conclude researchers who carried out a cross-sectional study in a cardiology department in Spain.

Lp(a) more atherogenic than LDL-C

March 17, 2024

Lp(a) may be as much as six times more atherogenic than LDL-C, according to results of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using UK biobank data from over 500,000 people. Researchers identified two clusters of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): one comprising 107 variants linked to Lp(a) mass concentration, the other with 143 variants linked to LDL concentration.