Shi F, et al. - Researchers analyzed studies that examined links of baseline serum or plasma beta-2-microglobulin (B2M) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) incidence, CVD mortality, or coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke separately, in either general populations or patients suffering from renal disease. These studies were selected from three databases. This analysis involved 16 studies (5 in general populations, and 11 in renal disease populations), comprising 30,988 participants and 5,391 CVD events. On the basis of random-effects meta-analysis, the pooled adjusted relative risks comparing the highest vs lowest third of the distribution of B2M were estimated to be 1.71, 2.29, 1.64, and 1.51 for CVD, CVD mortality, CHD, and for stroke, respectively, with little to high heterogeneity between studies. Across subgroup analyses, the positive links between B2M and risks of CVD results continued to be broadly significant. According to available observational data, moderate positive links exist between B2M concentrations and CVD events and mortality, although few investigations have been performed in general populations.