Nonalcohol fatty liver disease: balancing supply and utilization of triglycerides
Purpose of review
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is defined as the abnormal accumulation of lipids in the liver, called hepatic steatosis, which occurs most often as a concomitant of the metabolic syndrome. Its incidence has surged significantly in recent decades concomitant with the obesity pandemic and increasing consumption of refined carbohydrates and saturated fats. This makes a review of the origins of NAFLD timely and relevant.
Recent findings
This disorder, which shares histologic markers found in alcoholic fatty liver disease, was named NAFLD to distinguish it from the latter. Recently, howeve...
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - April 30, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: LIPID METABOLISM Source Type: research
Lipid effects of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor analogs
Purpose of review
Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) are becoming more prominent as a therapeutic choice in diabetes management and their use is being expanded to other indications, such as obesity. Dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease are common co-morbidities in these populations and understanding the impact of this class of medications on the lipid profile may be an important consideration.
Recent findings
Several GLP-1RAs trials demonstrate them to be safe and potentially beneficial for cardiovascular outcomes; improvements in surrogate markers of atherosclerosis have also been observed....
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - April 30, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: LIPID METABOLISM Source Type: research
Lipid effects of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors
Purpose of review
Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors are widely used antihyperglycemic drugs that show remarkable cardiorenal protective effects in patients with or without type 2 diabetes. Furthermore, they are effective among patients across a wide range of baseline renal and cardiac function. Numerous mechanisms have been evaluated to understand these remarkable clinical benefits. From an early stage, these agents were noted to affect the plasma lipid profile. Here we review lipid profile alterations attributable to SGLT2 inhibitors and also some mechanisms explored in model systems and human studies....
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - April 30, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: LIPID METABOLISM Source Type: research
Competing tissue-specific functions for the Tribbles-1 plasma lipid associated locus
Purpose of review
The pseudokinase Tribbles-1 (TRIB1) remains the focus of intense research since genome-wide association studies (GWAS) associated it with multiple cardiometabolic traits in humans, including plasma lipids and atherosclerosis. This review highlights recent advances in understanding the function of TRIB1 and what outstanding questions remain.
Recent findings
Studies performed in a myeloid-specific Trib1 mouse model show that Trib1 contributes to foam cell formation, underscoring the importance of continued research into tissue-specific functions of TRIB1. Investigations of TRIB1 function in a 3D ...
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - April 30, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: LIPID METABOLISM Source Type: research
Depression and cardiovascular disease
Purpose of review
The purpose of this review is to outline the relationship between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and depression, both as a cause of and a result of CVD.
Recent findings
The prevalence of depression seems to be increasing in the general population.
It is likely that depression will be even more of a problem for CVD patients in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.
New studies confirm the independent association of depression with later incident CVD, although perhaps not as strong as suggested by some previous studies.
Depression seems to be becoming even more prevalent in CVD patients, with new...
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - April 30, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: LIPID METABOLISM Source Type: research
The impact of race and ethnicity on lipoprotein(a) levels and cardiovascular risk
Purpose of review
Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is a plasma circulating apoB100 (apoB) containing lipoprotein. It has a unique glycoprotein bound to the apoB100, apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)]. The majority of the population expresses two apo(a) isoforms, when bound to apoB100 they create two circulating Lp(a) particles. Lp(a) levels are genetically determined and epidemiological studies have established elevated levels of Lp(a) to be a causal risk factor of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Lp(a) levels differ across racial groups and Blacks of Sub-Saharan decent have higher levels when compared to white. In comparison to white popu...
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - April 30, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: LIPID METABOLISM Source Type: research
Polygenic risk scores: how much do they add?
Purpose of review
Current methods to assess genetic risk of familial hypercholesterolemia and coronary artery disease (CAD) focus on testing monogenic mutations in well known genes. Here we review recent developments in polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for LDL cholesterol and for CAD, and how they may add to current risk prediction algorithms.
Recent findings
PRSs can identify 10–20 times as many individuals at high polygenic risk compared with monogenic mutations, and PRSs can modulate the effect of a monogenic variant on risk. Current risk factor prediction tools for prevention of CAD incompletely capture polyge...
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - April 30, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: LIPID METABOLISM Source Type: research
Editorial introduction
No abstract available (Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology)
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - April 30, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION Source Type: research
The clinical black, white, and gray lessons
Purpose of review
This review examines recent contradictory large, well-controlled randomized control trials assessing the effects of omega-3 fatty acids and colchicine on cardiovascular (CV) outcomes.
Recent findings
The Reduction of Cardiovascular Events with Icosapent Ethyl–Intervention Trial (REDUCE-IT) and Statin Residual Risk Reduction with Epanova in high Cardiovascular Risk patients with Hypertriglyceridemia (STRENGTH) trial assessed the CV outcomes using high-dose omega-3 fatty acids in statin-treated patients with moderate hypertriglyceridemia and high-risk for CV disease with differing results. Simi...
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - March 4, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: BIMONTHLY UPDATE Source Type: research
Genetic variants associated with cardiovascular diseases and related risk factors highlight novel potential therapeutic approaches
No abstract available (Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology)
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - March 4, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: BIMONTHLY UPDATE Source Type: research
Cross-species data integration to prioritize causal genes in lipid metabolism
Purpose of review
More than one hundred loci have been identified from human genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for blood lipids. Despite the success of GWAS in identifying loci, subsequent prioritization of causal genes related to these loci remains a challenge. To address this challenge, recent work suggests that candidate causal genes within loci can be prioritized through cross-species integration using genome-wide data from the mouse.
Recent findings
Mouse model systems provide unparalleled access to primary tissues, like the liver, that are not readily available for human studies. Given the key role th...
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - March 4, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: Edited by Robert A. Hegele Source Type: research
Apolipoprotein genetic variants and hereditary amyloidosis
Purpose of review
Amyloidosis is caused by the deposition of misfolded aggregated proteins called amyloid fibrils that in turn cause organ damage and dysfunction. In this review, we aim to summarize the genetic, clinical, and histological findings in apolipoprotein-associated hereditary amyloidosis and the growing list of mutations and apolipoproteins associated with this disorder. We also endeavor to summarize the features of apolipoproteins that have led them to be overrepresented among amyloidogenic proteins. Additionally, we aim to distinguish mutations leading to amyloidosis from those that lead to inherited dysli...
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - March 4, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: Edited by Robert A. Hegele Source Type: research
Update on cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis
Purpose of review
Cerebrotendinous xanthomatosis (CTX) is a rare genetic lipid storage disorder with highly pleomorphic clinical phenotype. Complications of this disease can be devastating and may include severe cognitive impairment and dementia in later stages. Disease progression can be prevented or stabilized by bile acid replacement therapy, although a subset of patients with advanced disease continue to deteriorate despite therapy.
Recent findings
Delayed diagnosis of CTX continues to impede effective treatment. A clinical diagnostic algorithm for CTX was developed that can decrease the age of diagnosis of ...
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - March 4, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: Edited by Robert A. Hegele Source Type: research
Recent advances in ABCG5 and ABCG8 variants
Purpose of review
In this review, we summarize the genetics and mechanisms of sitosterolemia and sterol trafficking, and provide an update on the understanding of the prevalence of ABCG5 and ABCG8 variants and their role in human disease.
Recent findings
Defects in ABCG5/G8 result in the accumulation of xenosterols. It had been previously thought that near total LoF of one of the proteins was required to cause pathology. However, recently there was the first report of a patient with Sitosterolemia who was heterozygous for mutations in both genes. Moreover, large population studies have demonstrated the even simp...
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - March 4, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: Edited by Robert A. Hegele Source Type: research
The clinical applicability of polygenic risk scores for LDL-cholesterol: considerations, current evidence and future perspectives
Purpose of review
The current review describes the development, clinical relevance and potential caveats of polygenic risk scores (PRS) for LDL cholesterol (LDL-C).
Recent findings
In recent years, a large number of common variants have been shown to have a small effect on LDL-C levels. The aggregate effect of all of these variants on LDL-C levels can be captured in a PRS and an elevated number of LDL-C increasing common variants is considered to be a cause of high LDL-C levels in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) without a large effect, rare mutation. PRS do not only serve as a tool in diagnostic...
Source: Current Opinion in Lipidology - March 4, 2021 Category: Lipidology Tags: GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY: Edited by Robert A. Hegele Source Type: research
