BACKGROUND Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2)/platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. A therapeutic targeting of this enzyme was challenged by the concern that increased circulating platelet activating factor (PAF) may predispose to or increase the severity of the allergic airway response. The aim of t...

An acidic phospholipase A2 (EC-I-PLA2) has been purified from the Indian saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) venom through a combination of column chromatography and electrophoresis. EC-I-PLA2 has a molecular weight of 16000 by SDS-PAGE. It was focussed between pH 4.2 and 4.8 by isoelectro focussing. EC-I-PLA2 was non-lethal to mice and devoid of neurotoxicity, myotoxicity, anticoagulant activit...

PURPOSE Increased lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) activity and Rho kinase activity may be associated with atherosclerosis. The principal aim of this study was to examine whether darapladib (a selective Lp-PLA2 inhibitor) could reduce the elevated Lp-PLA2 and Rho kinase activity in atherosclerosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Studies were performed in male Sprague-Dawley rats. The ...

OBJECTIVE Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is deemed to play a role in atherosclerosis and plaque destabilization as demonstrated in animal models and in prospective clinical studies. However, most of the literature is either focused on high-risk, apparently healthy patients, or is based on cross sectional studies. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that serum Lp-PLA2 mass and...

Apolipoprotein CIII (apo CIII), a small glycoprotein that binds to the surfaces of certain lipoproteins, is associated with inflammatory and atherogenic responses in vascular cells. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) has been proposed as an inflammatory biomarker and potential therapeutic target for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Here, we report that apo CIII increases Lp-PLA2 mRN...

OBJECTIVE Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is a vascular-specific inflammatory enzyme, of which increases are associated with cardiovascular events. However, the relationship between circulating Lp-PLA2 levels and coronary plaque volume has not been clarified in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS We studied 40 patients with ACS (age, 61.4 ± 8.0 years; male, ...

Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is a unique circulating phospholipase with inflammatory and oxidative activities and the limited data regarding the relationship between Lp-PLA2 and cognitive impairment are conflicted. We conducted a cross-sectional study including 1,374 Chinese adults recruited from 2010 to 2011, aiming to evaluate the relationship between Lp-PLA2 levels and t...

Chemotaxis toward different cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) concentrations was tested in Dictyostelium discoideum cell lines with deletion of specific genes together with drugs to inhibit one or all combinations of the second-messenger systems PI3-kinase, phospholipase C (PLC), phospholipase A2 (PLA2), and cytosolic Ca(2+). The results show that inhibition of either PI3-kinase or PLA2 inh...

Circulating lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is a marker of inflammation that plays a critical role in atherogenesis; its inhibition may have antiatherogenic effects. Studies from the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS), Monitoring Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Diseases (MONICA) and Rotterdam cohorts have shown that Lp-PLA2 is an independent predict...

The phospholipase A2 (PLA2) family comprises a group of lipolytic enzymes that typically hydrolyze the sn-2 position of glycerophospholipids to give rise to fatty acids and lysophospholipids. The mammalian genome encodes more than 50 PLA2s or related enzymes, which are classified into several subfamilies on the basis of their structures and functions. From a general viewpoint, the PLA2 family h...