Many of the ichthyoses are associated with inherited disorders of lipid metabolism. These disorders have provided unique models to dissect physiologic processes in normal epidermis and the pathophysiology of more common scaling conditions. In most of these disorders, a permeability barrier abnormality "drives" pathophysiology through stimulation of epidermal hyperplasia. Among primary abnormali...

Lipid storage diseases are debilitating inherited metabolic disorders that stem from the absence of specific lysosomal enzymes that degrade selected lipids. Most characteristically, these disorders affect the nervous and the reticulo-endothelial systems, with massive organomegaly resulting from the presence of engorged, lipid-laden macrophages. In this issue of the JCI, Yildiz et al. describe t...

Lipid abnormalities are extremely prevalent among the elderly, a group at very high risk for cardiovascular disorders. Accordingly, the treatment guidelines of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel do not suggest that lipid management be any less aggressive in older patients than in younger ones. Management decisions focus on the calculated low-density lipoprotein cho...

Statins are most effective pharmacologically agents to decrease total plasma cholesterol level by competitive inhibition of HMG-Co A reductase. Apart from the well-known LDL and cholesterol lowering effect, statins have been postulated to exert other beneficial effects also called pleotropic or non-lipid effects. Better understanding of various pleotropic effects of statins has prompted a new s...

There is a burgeoning focus on the relation between serum cholesterol levels and psychiatric disorders, including depression and other anxiety disorders (1,2). Information about the relation between serum lipid levels and sleep disorders is relatively limited in the psychiatric literature. In a previous study, we found that serum cholesterol level was higher in patients with recurrent panic att...