Lipoprotein(a) Levels in Patients With Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

Abstract

Circulating markers relevant to the development of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) are currently required. Lipoprotein(a), Lp(a), is considered a candidate marker associated with the presence of AAA. The present meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association between circulating Lp(a) levels and the presence of AAA. The PubMed-based search was conducted up to April 30, 2015, to identify the studies focusing on Lp(a) levels in patients with AAA and controls. Quantitative data synthesis was performed using a random effects model, with standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) as summary statistics. Overall, 9 studies were identified. After a combined analysis, patients with AAA were found to have a significantly higher level of Lp(a) compared to the controls (SMD: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.41-1.33, P < .001). This result remained robust in the sensitivity analysis, and its significance was not influenced after omitting each of the included studies from the meta-analysis. The present meta-analysis confirmed a higher level of circulating Lp(a) in patients with AAA compared to controls. High Lp(a) levels can be associated with the presence of AAA, and Lp(a) may be a marker in screening for AAA. Further studies are needed to establish the clinical utility of measuring Lp(a) in the prevention and management of AAA.

Lipoprotein(a)

“…Finally, numerous published reports on increased Lp(a) levels in patients with documented abdominal aortic aneurysms should be mentioned. This might be an evidence for Lp(a)-induced atherosclerotic processes in large vessels [26].…”

Lipoprotein(a): An independent, genetic, and causal factor for cardiovascular disease and acute myocardial infarction

“…High Lp(a) levels are highly correlated with PAD in people with and without diabetes. 23 , 149 , 150 , 151 , 152 Other vascular disorders associated with elevated Lp(a) level include abdominal aortic aneurysm, 153 aortic thrombosis, 154 aortic dissection, 155 left atrial thrombus, 115 ischemic cardiomyopathy, 156 retinal vascular occlusion, 157 and intracranial stenosis. 133 Elevated Lp(a) is a sensitive indicator of the severity of target organ damage and MACE in patients with hypertension and is a predictor of CKD, as well CAD and MACE in patients with CKD.…”

Dietary natural products as emerging lipoprotein(a)‐lowering agents

“…In particular, increased plasma Lp(a) levels represent a moderate, independent CVD risk factor (Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, ). Elevated plasma Lp(a) levels are associated with coronary artery disease (Bennet et al, ; Gurdasani et al, ; Mellwig et al, ), peripheral artery disease (Gurdasani et al, ), cerebrovascular disease (Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, ; Gurdasani et al, ), abdominal aortic aneurysm (Kotani et al, ), aortic valve calcification and stenosis (Vongpromek et al, ), as well as venous thromboembolism (Lippi, Franchini, & Targher, ). In this context, each 1 standard deviation increase in log‐transformed Lp(a) levels can raise the hazard ratio for CVD by 1.1–1.2 (Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, ) and is parallel to as much as a 3.6‐fold increased risk for CVD events at high Lp(a) concentrations (≥120 mg/dl; Kamstrup, Benn, Tybjærg‐Hansen, & Nordestgaard, ).…”