The role of lipoprotein (a) in the atherosclerotic process is continually being unraveled, and many of its potential proatherogenic and prothrombotic features have already been elucidated. Whereas most studies have demonstrated a strong association between lipoprotein (a) and the presence and severity of coronary heart disease, other groups have failed to observe such a relationship, which does...

The hydromethylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase inhibitors, “statins,” have been remarkably effective in reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration, decreasing the incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke, and extending survival (1–5). Statins inhibit the synthesis of cholesterol primarily in the liver. The hepatocyte, as its content of cholesterol decre...

BACKGROUND Elevated low density lipoprotein (LDL) and lipoprotein(a) are independent risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis. Using a proteomic approach we aimed to determine early changes in arterial protein expression in transgenic mice containing both human LDL and lipoprotein(a) in circulation. METHODS AND RESULTS Plasma lipid analyses showed the lipoprotein(a) transgenic mice...

To study the interaction between low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and granules from rat serosal mast cells in vitro, mast cells were stimulated with the degranulating agent 48/80 to induce exocytosis of the secretory granules. Subsequent incubation of the exocytosed granules with 125I-LDL resulted in binding of the labelled LDL to the granules. When increasing amounts of agent 48/80 were added to ...

Circulating human lymphocytes freshly isolated from venous blood of 15 normal subjects exhibited a low capacity to bind, take up, and degrade 125I-labeled low density lipoprotein (LDL). However, when these cells were incubated for 72 h in the absence of lipoproteins, they gradually acquired in increased number of high affinity cell surface receptors for LDL. The increase in the number of LDL re...

Hepatic lipase (HL) is a key player in lipoprotein metabolism by modulating, through its lipolytic activity, the triglyceride (TG) and phospholipid content of apolipoprotein B (apoB)-containing lipoproteins and of high density lipoproteins (HDL), thereby affecting their size and density. A new and separate role has been suggested for HL in cellular lipoprotein metabolism, in which it serves as ...

Pharmacologic doses of 17a-ethinyl estradiol have been reported to cause a marked lowering of plasma lipoprotein levels in the rat. The drop in plasma low density lipoprotein (LDL) is associated with enhanced uptake of LDL by the liver. In the current studies, we show that membranes prepared from livers of ethinyl estradiol-treated rats exhibit a 3to lo-fold increase in saturable binding sites ...

Dyslipidaemias play a key role in determining cardiovascular risk; the discovery of statins has contributed a very effective approach. However, many patients do not achieve, at the maximal tolerated dose, the recommended goals for low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), non-high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B (apoB). Available agents combined with statins can provide...

Human apolipoprotein E (apoE) is a ligand for the low density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor and mediates the catabolism of several classes of lipoprotein particles. Binding of apoE to the LDL receptor requires association of apoE with lipid in a vesicle or a lipoprotein particle. Because of this requirement, purified apoE or apoE derived directly from bacterial expression systems does not bind to ...

The triglyceride content of the plasma very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) fraction is the most important factor affecting the size of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in humans. Because cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) can influence the size distribution of LDL particles in human plasma, the implication of lipid transfers in the formation of small-sized LDL patterns, which have been asso...