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Acute coronary syndromes

Targeting inflammation—what has the VISTA-16 trial taught us?

The VISTA-16 trial of varespladib, a secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) inhibitor, in patients with an acute coronary syndrome was terminated prematurely owing to futility and a signal towards harm. Despite these discouraging results, therapies that target inflammation to modify pathways in atherogenesis remain an area of active investigation.

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Figure 1: sPLA2 has been hypothesized to promote atherogenesis through several mechanisms.

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Correspondence to Michelle L. O'Donoghue.

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Competing interests

M. L. O'Donoghue has acted as a consultant for Aegerion, and has received grants/research support from AstraZeneca, Genzyme, and GlaxoSmithKline.

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O'Donoghue, M. Targeting inflammation—what has the VISTA-16 trial taught us?. Nat Rev Cardiol 11, 130–132 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2013.220

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