Lipoprotein(a): Evidence for Role as a Causal Risk Factor in Cardiovascular Disease and Emerging Therapies

Harpreet S Bhatia; Michael J Wilkinson

doi:10.3390/jcm11206040

Lipoprotein(a): Evidence for Role as a Causal Risk Factor in Cardiovascular Disease and Emerging Therapies

J Clin Med. 2022 Oct 13;11(20):6040. doi: 10.3390/jcm11206040.

Authors

Harpreet S Bhatia¹, Michael J Wilkinson¹

Affiliation

¹ Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.

Abstract

Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is an established risk factor for multiple cardiovascular diseases. Several lines of evidence including mechanistic, epidemiologic, and genetic studies support the role of Lp(a) as a causal risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and aortic stenosis/calcific aortic valve disease (AS/CAVD). Limited therapies currently exist for the management of risk associated with elevated Lp(a), but several targeted therapies are currently in various stages of clinical development. In this review, we detail evidence supporting Lp(a) as a causal risk factor for ASCVD and AS/CAVD, and discuss approaches to managing Lp(a)-associated risk.

Keywords: cardiovascular disease; lipoprotein(a); prevention; risk factors.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

HSB and MJW are supported by the National Institutes of Health, Grant 1KL2TR001444. HSB is supported by the National Institutes of Health, Grant 5T32HL079891.