Summary

Inflammation has been implicated in atherosclerosis, and evidence suggests that some of the benefit seen with statin treatment may be related to an anti-inflammatory effect. Secretory phospholipase A2 (sPLA2) is found in atherosclerotic plaques and has been shown to participate in the inflammatory pathway. The objective of the Vascular Inflammation Suppression to Treat Acute Coronary Syndrome for 16 Weeks study [VISTA-16; Nicholls SJ et al. JAMA 2013] was to determine whether varespladib, a pan-sPLA2 inhibitor, would have an effect on cardiovascular outcomes in patients treated for the first 16 weeks after an acute coronary syndrome.