Choline in acute coronary syndrome: an emerging biomarker with implications for the integrated assessment of plaque vulnerability

Whole-blood choline, plasma choline and serum choline are emerging biomarkers in acute coronary syndrome related to coronary plaque instability with platelet thrombus formation and ischemia. Whole-blood choline is an early predictor for cardiac events, which adds to troponins, natriuretic peptides and inflammatory markers. Serum choline is highly predictive for myocardial infarction and discriminates high- from low-risk subgroups in troponin-positive patients. Choline is a candidate marker to aid decision making in the emergency room in the upcoming era of sensitive troponin tests and the growing need to differentiate between ischemic and nonischemic etiologies of troponin elevations. The integrated approach of in vitro choline measurement in combination with advanced techniques of in vivo choline imaging represents a novel future strategy for detecting vulnerable plaques. This paper provides an up-to-date review of choline in acute coronary syndrome including key aspects of pathophysiology, analytical methods, clinical studies and implications for the integrated assessment of plaque vulnerability.