Table 1.

 Characteristics of the 31 eligible meta-analyses that examined biomarkers for cardiovascular risk and included data from at least one observational study (OS) and one randomised controlled trial (RCT)

Analysis ID, reference, and biomarker examined	Clinical setting	Recommended for clinical use in guidelines	Type of meta-analysis	No of studies			Total No of events		RCT names
				OS	RCT		OS	RCT
139, selenium	No history of CVD	No	Published literature	11	2		1934	302	PHS, NITL
237, C reactive protein	Vascular surgery patients†	Yes18 20 23	Published literature	1	1		1	3	AAART
334, serum albumin	Haemodialysis patients‡	No	Published literature	7	1		NA	NA	HEMO Study
433, C reactive protein	No history of CVD	Yes15-17 23	Individual participant data	26	5		9171	1170	AFTCAPS, WHS, MRFIT, PROSPER, WOSCOPS
535, triglycerides	No history of CVD	Yes15-17	Individual participant data	61	7		10 341	2444	AFTCAPS, WHS, MRFIT, PROSPER, WOSCOPS, ALLHAT, LEADER
635, non-HDL cholesterol	No history of CVD	Yes17	Individual participant data	61	7		10341	2444	AFTCAPS, WHS, MRFIT, PROSPER, WOSCOPS, ALLHAT, LEADER
736, Lp(a) lipoprotein	No history of CVD	Yes15 22	Individual participant data	25	5		8285	1036	AFTCAPS, WHS, MRFIT, WOSCOPS,* PHS
832, lipoprotein associated phospholipase A2 activity	General	Yes15	Individual participant data	10	2		1798	2165	PROSPER, HPS
932, lipoprotein associated phospholipase A2 mass	General	Yes15	Individual participant data	9	3		1821	2540	PROSPER, HPS, WOSCOPS
1045, serum amyloid A	No history of CVD	No	Published literature	1	1		506	85	WHS
1145, serum amyloid A	Pre-existing CVD	No	Published literature	1	1		75	391	CARE trial
1245, serum albumin	No history of CVD	No	Published literature	6	1		3320	450	MRFIT†
1345, leucocyte count	No history of CVD	No	Published literature	12	2		5402	562	WOSCOPS, HHS
1445, leucocyte count	Pre-existing CVD	No	Published literature	3	2		222	1043	CDS,* PAR
1544, Chlamydia pneumoniae IgG titre	General	No	Published literature	12	3		2639	530	PHS, WHS, HHS
1643, homocysteine	General	Yes16 17	Published literature	27	2		NA	NA	PHS,‡ MRFIT†
1742, D-dimer	No history of CVD	No	Published literature	4	1		998	296	PHS
1810, apolipoprotein B	General	No	Published literature	16	3		5442	891	AFTCAPS, PHS, WHS
1940, apolipoprotein A I	General	No	Published literature	18	3		5429	891	AFTCAPS, PHS, WHS
2040, apolipoprotein B:A I ratio	General	Yes17	Published literature	5	2		3085	645	AFTCAPS, WHS
2138, fasting insulin	General	No	Published literature	13	1		26 251	208	MRFIT
2231, apolipoprotein(a) isoforms	General	No	Published literature	29	1		7187	195	MRFIT
2330, post-load glucose	No history of diabetes	Yes21	Published literature	14	1		11 851	801	PHS
2441, fibrinogen	General	No	Individual participant data	29	2		5319	1799	Throm Prev, WOSCOPS
2550, tissue plasminogen activator antigen	General	No	Published literature	6	1		1438	231	PHS
2646, night time ambulatory blood pressure	High blood pressure	Yes24	Published literature	6	2		922	337	Syst-Eur trial,* ASCOT BPLA
2746, daytime ambulatory blood pressure	High blood pressure	Yes24	Published literature	6	2		922	337	Syst-Eur trial,* ASCOT BPLA
2847, B-type natriuretic peptide	General population or stable CVD	Yes20	Published literature	30	10		4005	6620	Steno-2, LIFE, AASK, FRISC II, PROVE IT TIMI-22, PROGRESS, LIPID, PEACE, HOPE, HPS
2948, coronary artery calcium	General population	Yes15	Published literature	11	2		1729	174	INSIGHT, St Francis Heart Study*
3049, troponin T/I	Acute coronary syndrome patients (non-ST elevation)	Yes18	Published literature	11	5		132	140	GUSTO-IIa, TIMI-IIIb, TRIM, TIMI-11a, CAPTURE*
3149, troponin T/I	Acute coronary syndrome patients (ST elevation)	Yes18	Published literature	1	2		8	1322	GUSTO-IIa, GUSTO-III

CVD=cardiovascular disease, HDL=high density lipoprotein, NA=data not available.

Names of trials: WOSCOPS=West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study, PHS=Physicians Health Study, NITL=Nutrition Intervention Trial in Linxian, AAART=Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair trial, HEMO=Hemodialysis study, WHS=Women’s Health Study, CARE trial=Cholesterol and Recurrent Events trial, MRFIT=Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial, CDS=Coronary Drug Study, PAR=Persantin-Aspirin Reinfarction Study, HHS=Helsinki Heart Study, AFTCAPS=Air Force/Texas Coronary Atherosclerosis Prevention Study, Throm Prev=Thrombosis Prevention, PROSPER=Prospective Study of Pravastatin in the Elderly at Risk, ALLHAT=Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial, LEADER=Lower Extremity Arterial Disease Event Reduction Trial, HPS=Heart Protection Study, LIFE=Losartan Intervention For Endpoint, AASK=African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension, FRISC II=Fragmin and fast Revascularisation during InStability in Coronary artery disease, LIPID=Long-term Intervention with Pravastatin in Ischemic Disease, PROGRESS=Perindopril Protection Against Recurrent Stroke Study, PEACE=Prevention of Events with Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibition, HOPE=Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation, INSIGHT=International Nifedipine Study Intervention as Goal for Hypertension Therapy, GUSTO=Global Utilization of Streptokinase and Tissue Plasminogen Activator for Occluded Coronary Arteries, TIMI=Thrombolysis in Myocardial Ischemia Trial, TRIM=Thrombin Inhibition in Myocardial ischemia, CAPTURE=c7E3 Fab Antiplatelet Therapy in Unstable Refractory Angina, Syst-Eur trial=Systolic Hypertension in Europe, ASCOT-BPLA=Anglo-Scandinavian cardiac outcomes trial-blood pressure lowering arm.

*Only placebo arm analysed.

†MRFIT analysed as 2 different cohorts.

‡PHS analysed as 4 different cohorts.