An evolving story of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 in atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk prediction.

Over the past 50 years, the age-adjusted mortality rate fromcardiovascular disease has decreased substantially. Despitethe improved mortality rate, there is evidence that actual cardiovascularevent rates remain relatively unchanged (i.e. more people aresurviving acute events), and heart disease and stroke continueto be leading causes of death in Western societies.¹ Intensiveresearch efforts are currently under way with the goal of furtherreducing the global burden of cardiovascular disease. An improvedunderstanding of vascular biology and the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis—includingthe role of inflammatory processes—may prove helpful inachieving this goal. Atherosclerosis is a condition involving numerous complex processeswithin the vessel wall that can be characterized as an inflammatoryresponse to injury.