Circulating sPLA2 activity: an early prognostic marker in unselected patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected acute coronary syndrome.

Paris - 14th January 2010

New results from a 419 patients study presented at the XXth JESFC (European Days of the French Cardiology Society) Congress

Aterovax SA, a company developing innovative products for atherosclerosis, today announced that measuring sPLA2 activity with its proprietary test in patients presenting to hospital with suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and non ST-segment elevation provides vital information on the risk of death or myocardial infarction (MI). Data to be presented today at the XXes Journees Europeennes de la Societe Francaise de Cardiologie in Paris demonstrated a direct association between sPLA2 activity and final diagnosis, independent of and significantly better than other cardiac biomarkers including C-reactive protein (CRP), sPLA2 mass and lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2).

"When patients present to the emergency room with symptoms of ACS and no ST-segment elevation, it's important to quickly determine the cause, especially as there are many cardiac and non-cardiac conditions that present with similar symptoms. Our test shows that serum sPLA2 activity measured at admission in these patients is significantly higher in those with established ACS than other cardiac or non-cardiac conditions," noted Dr Joelle Benessiano¹, Head of the Biological Resource Center, Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris, Hopital Bichat and an investigator in the study. "This means that testing for sPLA2 activity at admission in patients presenting with these symptoms, along with standard cardiac markers, could provide very important independent information to physicians to help them plan the best treatment strategy for each patient."

Study Details

Secretory PLA2 mass, sPLA2 and Lp-PLA2 activities were measured on serum samples collected from 419 unselected consecutive patients presenting in the emergency room, without ST-segment elevation (NSTE) on the baseline ECG, with chest pain or other clinical features considered indicative of ACS. Final discharge diagnoses were assigned to the following categories: NSTE-ACS including NSTE-MI and unstable angina (UA), other cardiac diseases (OCD) or non cardiac diseases (NCD). Follow-up was obtained in all patients at 40 days. The median sPLA2 activity was significantly higher in NSTE-ACS patients (1.89) than in OCP and NCP patients (1.45 and 1.43 respectively; p< 0.001). A significant association between sPLA2 mass and diagnosis (p<0.02) was also found, while the Lp-PLA2 activity appeared not to be associated with the final diagnosis. Patients with sPLA2 activity or mass at presentation in the highest quartile had a statistically higher incidence of cardiac death and MI than those with sPLA2 activity or mass in the lowest quartile (37.5% versus 13.4 %, p=0.0001 and 33.6% versus 16%; p=0.0047, respectively). No association was observed with Lp-PLA2 activity.

1 : Dr J. BENESSIANO is member of ATEROVAX's scientific advisory board and shareholder of the company.