Prevalence of Antiphospholipid Antibodies and Association With Incident Cardiovascular Events

The prevalence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) and their association with future atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk has yet to be thoroughly investigated.

To determine the association between measurements of aPL at a single time point and ASCVD risk in a diverse population.

This cohort study measured 8 aPL (anticardiolipin [aCL] IgG/IgM/IgA, anti-beta-2 glycoprotein I [aβ2GPI] IgG/IgM/IgA, and antiphosphatidylserine/prothrombin [aPS/PT] IgG/IgM) by solid-phase assays in plasma from participants of the Dallas Heart Study (DHS) phase 2, a multiethnic, population-based cohort study. Blood samples were collected between 2007 and 2009. The median follow-up was 8 years. Statistical analysis was performed from April 2022 to January 2023.

Associations of aPL with future ASCVD events (defined as first nonfatal myocardial infarction, first nonfatal stroke, coronary revascularization, or death from cardiovascular cause) were assessed by Cox proportional hazards models, adjusting for known risk factors, medications, and multiple comparisons.

Among the 2427 participants (mean [SD] age, 50.6 [10.3] years; 1399 [57.6%] female; 1244 [51.3%] Black, 339 [14.0%] Hispanic, and 796 [32.8%] White), the prevalence of any positive aPL tested at a single time point was 14.5% (353 of 2427), with approximately one-third of those detected at a moderate or high titer; aCL IgM had the highest prevalence (156 individuals [6.4%]), followed by aPS/PT IgM (88 [3.4%]), aβ2GPI IgM (63 [2.6%]), and aβ2GPI IgA (62 [2.5%]). The IgA of aCL (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 4.92; 95% CI, 1.52-15.98) and aβ2GPI (HR, 2.91; 95% CI, 1.32-6.41) were independently associated with future ASCVD events. The risk further increased when applying a positivity threshold of at least 40 units (aCL IgA: HR, 9.01 [95% CI, 2.73-29.72]; aβ2GPI IgA: HR, 4.09 [95% CI, 1.45-11.54]). Levels of aβ2GPI IgA negatively correlated with cholesterol efflux capacity (r = -0.055; P = .009) and positively correlated with circulating oxidized LDL (r = 0.055; P = .007). aβ2GPI IgA-positive plasma was associated with an activated endothelial cell phenotype as evidenced by increased surface expression of surface E-selectin, intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1.

In this population-based cohort study, aPL detectable by solid-phase assays were present in a substantial proportion of adults; positive aCL IgA and aβ2GPI IgA at a single time point were independently associated with future ASCVD events. Longitudinal studies with serial aPL measurements are needed to further explore these findings.