Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.Wake Forest University researchers have found that the liver may produce most of the body's "good" cholesterol, an unexpected finding that might one day help scientists develop new treatments to raise levels of this heart-protecting molecule.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Researchers from Wake Forest University school of medicine and colleagues conducted a study that used gene-targeting in mice to simulate Tangier disease, a rare human disease. People with this genetic disease produce virtually no “good” cholesterol.
“In studies of mice, we provided the first definitive proof that the liver is the source of about 80% of the high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or ‘good’ cholesterol, that circulates in the blood,” said Dr John Parks, senior researcher, from the Wake Forest University school of medicine. “Understanding more about how HDL is produced could lead to new treatments to raise its levels.”
Learning more about Tangier disease could help people with less severe cholesterol disorders, Parks said. Low levels of HDL are associated with higher risk of heart attacks, even when total cholesterol levels are normal.
Until now, scientists had thought that HDL formation occurred throughout the body rather than coming mainly from one organ.