The PLAC test is used to determine Lp-PLA2 in serum or plasma.
Lp-PLA2 stands for Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2.
The test is used to determine your cardiovascular risk disease, myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke associated with atherosclerosis. In recent years, a number of studies have been published pointing to Lp-PLA2 as a marker for determining cardiovascular risk.
Lp-PLA2 activity is to be used in conjunction with clinical evaluation and a risk assessment as an aid in predicting risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in people with no prior history of cardiovascular events.
------------------
Lp-PLA2 is a calcium-independent phospholipase A2 enzyme that is associated with both low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and, to a lesser extent, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in human plasma and serum and is distinct from other such phospholipases such as cPLA2 and sPLA2.2,3 Lp-PLA2 is produced by macrophages and other inflammatory cells and is expressed in greater concentrations in advanced atherosclerotic lesions than early-stage lesions.
Several lines of evidence suggest that oxidation of LDL plays a critical step in the development and progression of atherosclerosis.
Lp-PLA2 participates in the breakdown of oxidized LDL in the vascular wall by hydrolyzing the oxidized phospholipid, producing lysophosphatidylcholine and oxidized free fatty acids, both of which are potent pro-inflammatory products that contribute to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques.
Lp-PLA2 has demonstrated modest intra- and inter-individual variation, commensurate with other cardiovascular lipid markers and substantially less variability than high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). In addition, Lp-PLA2 is not elevated in systemic inflammatory conditions, and may be a more specific marker of vascular inflammation. The relatively small biological variation of Lp-PLA2 and its vascular specificity are of value in the detection and monitoring of cardiovascular risk.
References:
- Zalewski A, Macphee C. Role of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 in atherosclerosis: biology, epidemiology, and possible therapeutic target. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2005 May;25(5):923-931. PubMed 15731492
- Kudo I, Murakami M. Phospholipase A2 enzymes. Prostaglandins Other Lipid Mediat. 2002 Aug;68-69:3-58. PubMed 12432908
- Burke JE, Dennis EA. Phospholipase A2 structure/function, mechanism, and signaling. J Lipid Res. 2009 Apr;50:s237-242. PubMed 19011112
- Hakkinen T, Luoma JS, Hiltunen MO, et al. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A(2), platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase, is expressed by macrophages in human and rabbit atherosclerotic lesions. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 1999 Dec;19(12):2909-2917. PubMed 10591668
- Kolodgie FD, Burke AP, Skorija KS, et al. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 protein expression in the natural progression of human coronary atherosclerosis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2006 Nov;26(11):2523-2529. PubMed 16960105
- Witztum JL. The oxidation hypothesis of atherosclerosis. Lancet. 1994 Sep;344(8925):793-795. PubMed 7916078
- Chisolm GM, Steinberg D. The oxidative modification hypothesis of atherogenesis: an overview. Free Radic Biol Med. 2000 Jun 15;28(12):1815-1826. PubMed 10946223
- Macphee CH, Moores KE, Boyd HF, et al. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2, platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase, generates two bioactive products during the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein: use of a novel inhibitor. Biochem J. 1999 Mar 1;338(Pt 2):479-487. PubMed 10024526
- Macphee CH. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2: a potential new risk factor for coronary artery disease and a therapeutic target. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2001 Apr;1(2):121-125. PubMed 11714085
- Suckling KE, Macphee CH. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2: a target directed at the atherosclerotic plaque. Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2002 Jun;6(3):309-314. PubMed 12223071
- Wolfert RL, Kim NW, Selby RG, Sarno MJ, Warnick GR, Sudhir K. Biological variability and specificity of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA), a novel marker of cardiovascular risk (abstract). Circulation. 2004;110(Supplement 3):309.
- Lerman A, McConnell JP. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2: a risk marker or a risk factor? Am J Cardiol. 2008 Jun 16;101(12A):11F-22F. PubMed 18549867
- Thompson A, Gao P, Orfei L, et al. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A(2) and risk of coronary disease, stroke, and mortality: collaborative analysis of 32 prospective studies. Lancet. 2010 May 1;375(9725):1536-1544. PubMed 20435228
Understand and improve your laboratory results with our health dashboard.
Upload your lab reports and get your interpretation today.
Our technology helps to understand, combine, track, organize, and act on your medical lab test results.
Increased risk of CVD, CHD, and stroke.
Possible treatment options:
Statins, therapeutic lifestyle changes
Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), also known as platelet activating factor Acetylhydrolase, is an inflammatory enzyme that circulates bound mainly to low density lipoproteins and has been found to be localized and enriched in atherosclerotic plaques. In multiple clinical trials, Lp-PLA2 activity has been shown to be an independent predictor of coronary heart disease and stroke in the general population. Measurement of Lp-PLA2 may be used along with traditional cardiovascular risk factor measures for identifying individuals at higher risk of cardiovascular disease events. Clinical management may include beginning or intensifying risk reduction strategies. The activity assay is an enzyme assay run on an automated chemistry platform.
Interpret Your Lab Results
Upload your lab report, and we'll interpret and provide you with recommendations today.
Get Started
Monthly plan
Annual plan
Own it for life
Our exclusive data entry service is a convenient way to get your results into your private dashboard. Simply attach an image or a file of your lab test results, and one of our qualified data entry team members will add the results for you. We support all sorts of files, whether PDFs, JPGs, or Excel. This service is excellent whether you have a lot of reports to upload or are too busy to do the data entry yourself.
We strive to make the data entry process easy for you. Whether by offering dozens of templates to choose from that pre-populate the most popular laboratory panels or by giving you instant feedback on the entered values. Our data entry forms are an easy, fast, and convenient way to enter the reports yourself. There is no limit on how many lab reports you can upload.
$15 /month
billed every month
Most popular
Data entry included
$79 /year
$6.60/month billed annually
Data entry included
$250 /once
own it for life
Are You a Health Professional?
Get started with our professional plan
Welcome to Healthmatters Pro.
Save time on interpreting lab results with the largest database of biomarkers online. In-depth research on any test at your fingertips, all stored and tracked in one place. Learn more
Pro Monthly Plus
for health professionals
$75 per month
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.
Apo B : Apo A-1, Atherogenic index, Estimated CHD Risk, Glycomark (1 ,5-Anhydroglucitol), HDL-C, HDL-C/TG, hsCRP, IDL Cholesterol, LDL-C, LDL/HDL Cholesterol Ratio, Leptin : Adiponectin ratio, Myeloperoxidase (MPO), Non-HDL Cholesterol, Oxidized LDL, Oxidized LDL : LDL-C, OxLDL (Oxidized LDL), PLAC, PLAC (LP-PLA2 Activity), Small dense LDL Cholesterol, Small dense LDL-C : LDL-C, Total Cholesterol, Total Cholesterol/HDL Ratio, Triglycerides, Triglycerides to HDL Ratio, VLDL-C/TG
