Opening a New Approach to Targeting LDL Cholesterol to Slow Atherosclerosis

In atherosclerosis, fatty deposits form in blood vessel walls, narrowing and eventually rupturing or blocking them. It is one of the largest causes of death. The majority of efforts to treat atherosclerosis are focused on reducing the input of LDL cholesterol. This means statins and other, more recent approaches to lower levels of LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream, such as PCSK9 inhibitors. It is possible to reduce blood cholesterol to very low levels indeed, far below normal, and this actually has comparatively little effect on existing atherosclerotic lesions. Patients still die. The disease still progresses, just more slowly. Atherosclerosis isn't a condition of cholesterol, for all that this is how it largely discussed in the medical profession, but rather a condition in which the macrophages responsible for clearing cholesterol from blood vessel walls become dysfunctional. The focus should be on the macrophages. Nonetheless, the research community remains largely focused on LDL. The work here is illustrative of attempts to find yet more ways to reduce LDL cholesterol in blood vessel walls, this time somewhat more specifically than by simply lowering levels everywhere. Still, I suspect it will be unlikely to produce benefits significantly greater than those of PCSK9 inhibitors and their general reduction in LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream. Since low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol entry into the artery wall drives the development of atheroscle...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs