7-Ketocholesterol as a Contributing Cause of Multiple Age-Related Diseases

One noteworthy difference between the biochemistry of young and old individuals is a greater presence of oxidative molecules, resulting from dysfunctional cells, inflammatory processes, and other issues. As a consequence, there are also many more oxidized molecules, changed from their original structure and now either broken or actively harmful. Cells clear out this sort of oxidative damage constantly, and are quite efficient at this sort of maintenance until levels of oxidization become high, but they nonetheless struggle with some particularly toxic or resilient oxidized molecules, even in smaller amounts. A good example of the type is 7-ketocholesterol, a form of oxidized cholesterol. It is primarily understood as an important contributing cause of atherosclerosis via its detrimental effects on the macrophages responsible for clearing lipids from blood vessel walls, but there is evidence for it to contribute to other age-related conditions as well. Cholesterols exist both inside and outside of the cell, as they are important components of all cellular membranes, but these and other nonpolar substances are transported in the plasma via lipoprotein particles. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) is the principle carrier of cholesterol to peripheral tissue. All of the components of LDL are susceptible to oxidation to produce an oxidized form of LDL (OxLDL). OxLDL has been linked to a variety of pathologies. Oxidation of the cholesterol in LDL produces several oxidation prod...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs