Lipoprotein (a) and Risk for Incident Atrial Fibrillation: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

• Authors: Parveen K Garg, University of Southern California; Weihua Guan, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Amy B Karger, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Brian T Steffen, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Wesley O'Neal, Emory University; Susan R Heckbert, University of Washington, Seattle; Erin D Michos, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Michael Y Tsai, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
• Journal Title: Circulation-Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology
• Volume: Volume 13, Number 5
• Publisher: American Heart Association | 2020-05-01
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCEP.120.008401
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Public Health
• Keywords: Atrial Fibrillation; Multi-Ethnic Study; Atherosclerosis (MESA); cardiovascular disease (CVD)

Abstract

Studies assessing associations between Lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] and atrial fibrillation (AF) are limited to two prospective studies, neither reporting a significant relationship. We examined the association of circulating Lp(a) levels with incident AF in a community-based multi-ethnic prospective cohort. The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) recruited 6814 adults across the United States aged 45–84 years and free of clinically recognized cardiovascular disease (CVD) between 2000 and 2002. The study was approved by the institutional review board at each center and all participants signed an informed consent. Standardized questionnaires were used at baseline to obtain demographic information, education level, household income, physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking history, and medication usage. Total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose were measured from fasting blood samples.