Effect of Physical Activity on Plasma PCSK9 in Subjects With High Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

Conclusion: The low physical activity that our subjects with high risk for T2D could perform did not influence plasma PCSK9 levels. Intervention with higher physical activities might be more effective in influencing PCSK9 levels. Introduction High circulating LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol concentration is the most important cardiovascular risk factor. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is known to promote the production of LDL cholesterol potentiating the cardiovascular risks. Thus, pharmacological treatments with statins has been widely used to reduce LDL cholesterol (Momtazi et al., 2017). Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a serine protease which binds to LDL and other lipoprotein receptors convoying the complex to intracellular degradation compartments (Seidah et al., 2014). The enzyme is abundantly expressed in liver hepatocytes and circulates in plasma. The physiological role of PCSK9 is to promote the degradation of LDL receptors and thereby to regulate the amount of circulating LDL cholesterol. Gain-of-function mutations of PCSK9 cause severe hypercholesterolemia, whereas loss-of-function types lead to decreased circulating LDL cholesterol levels, protecting from cardiovascular disease (CVD) (Cohen et al., 2005). Monoclonal PCSK9 antibodies are already on the market and small interfering RNAs studied as potentially effective drugs against hypercholesterolemia (Lloyd-Jones et al., 2017; Momtazi et al., 2017; Stoekenbroek et al., 2018). As...
Source: Frontiers in Physiology - Category: Physiology Source Type: research