Lysophosphatidic acid and sphingosine 1-phosphate: Two lipid villains provoking cardiovascular diseases?

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and sphingosine I-phosphate (S1P) are potent bi oactive lipids with specific and multiple effects on cells of the vessel wa ll and blood platelets, In this paper we suggest that these lipid molecules are involved in atherogenesis, pathological vasoconstriction, plaque ruptu re, and intravascular thrombus formation, which leads us to propose new str ategies for the prevention and therapy of cardiovascular diseases. The conc lusions are hypothetical, in that the studies were so far mainly carried ou t on isolated cells or cultured cells in vitro and the results were extrapo lated to the situation in vivo.