Serum lipoprotein-A levels in healthy subjects indicate a lurking cerebro- and cardio-vascular risk in the younger population

• This piece reports new findings on the cerebro- and cardio-vascular disease (CCVD) risks in young populations.
• Lipoprotein-A (LpA) is a novel independent risk factor for CCVD.
• LpA is elevated in a third of healthy university students.
• By characterizing LpA in young generations, early preventive measures could be taken in order to eliminate CCVD events.

Lipoprotein-A (LpA) is an emerging independent risk factor for cerebro- and cardio-vascular diseases (CCVD). Recognizing its function and its normal distribution is of fundamental importance for a better understanding of CCVD patho-physiology. The present study evaluated plasma LpA levels of healthy university students using turbidimetric methods. Medians and inter-quartile differences obtained for male and female participants were 11.3 mg/dL (3.1–30.7) and 20.9 mg/dL (6.5–42.3), respectively, demonstrating a significant difference (P = 0.017) between men and women. A third of students showed plasma concentrations above reference values. Our results indicate that 33% of students possess a hidden independent risk factor for CCVD. Multi-disciplinary evaluation and characterization of young individuals should be recommended in an attempt to take early preventive measures and to eliminate possible modifiable risk factors such as sedentary lifestyle, smoking, hypertension, obesity and atherogenic diet.