Abstract

Introduction: Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease; however, its association with cerebrovascular disease is not as well established. Methods: Data from HCHS/SOL, a population-based cohort of Hispanics/Latinos, was utilized. We included 16,039 participants with measured Lp(a) levels (nmol/L) and self-reported history of prevalent stroke or transient-ischemic attack (TIA) from Visit 1. Data from SOL-INCA MRI (ancillary study conducted after Visit 2) was utilized to identify a subset of 2,668 HCHS/SOL participants with brain MRI. Linear and logistic regression was used to study the association of Lp(a) with 1. Self-reported stroke or TIA; 2. Cerebral injury defined as self-reported stroke or TIA or evidence of a stroke on brain MRI; and 3. White matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume modeled as log (WMH/total cranial volume). Lp(a) was modeled as a continuous variable and as quintiles. Sampling weights and surveys methods were used to account for the complex HCHS/SOL design. Results: HCHS/SOL mean age ± SE was 41.1 ± 0.3 years, 52.0% female, and median (IQR) Lp(a) level 19.7 (7.3-60.6) nmol/L. SOL-INCA MRI mean age ± SE was 49.9 ± 0.4 years, 56.4% female, and median (IQR) Lp(a) level 21.7 (8.1-62.9). A ten nmol/L unit increase in Lp(a) was significantly associated with a higher risk of self-reported prevalent stroke or TIA (OR 1.03, 95% CI: 1.02-1.05, p = 0.0002). Lp(a)>77 nmol/L (5 th quintile) was significantly associated with higher risk of self-reported prevalent stroke or TIA (OR 1.8, 95% CI: 1.2-2.8, p = 0.009) compared to Lp(a) <6 nmol/L (1 st quintile) as reference. A ten unit increase in Lp(a) was significantly associated with higher odds of cerebral injury (OR 1.03, 95% CI: 1.02-1.05, p<0.0001). Lp(a)>77 nmol/L was significantly associated with cerebral injury (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.3- 2.6, p=0.002) as compared to Lp(a) <6 nmol/L. A ten unit increase in Lp(a) was also significantly associated with increasing WMH volume (β 0.02, p=0.0002). Conclusions: Lp(a) is significantly associated with self-reported prevalent stroke or TIA, brain MRI evidence of cerebral injury, and WMH, in a large diverse population of Hispanics/Latinos, suggesting that Lp(a) may be a modifiable risk factor for cerebrovascular disease.

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