Epidemiological studies within developed populations have demonstrated that high levels of HDL cholesterol are associated with decreased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, although the precise mechanism for this protective effect is not completely understood. Apolipoprotein (apo) AI is the major protein constituent of HDL, and high-level hepatic production of human apoAI in transge...

BACKGROUND/AIM The aim of this study was to investigate the association of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] with the severity of coronary heart disease (CHD) in Han Chinese people. MATERIALS AND METHODS Six hundred and seventy-nine patients with angiographically defined CHD were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Fasting lipids were measured, and the severity of CHD was quantitatively assessed for...

Maintaining cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) levels within healthy limits is critical for decreasing the risk of heart disease. Dyslipidemia refers to the abnormal levels of lipids in the blood, including low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), also known as good cholesterol, high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), also known as bad cholesterol, and/or high TG levels that c...

Degranulated mast cells are present in human fatty streaks. Chymase in granules released from degranulated rat serosal mast cells, i.e., in granule remnants, proteolyzes human high density lipoprotein3 (HDL3), and so reduces its ability to induce cholesterol efflux from macrophage foam cells in vitro. In this study we found that remnant chymase, by proteolyzing human serum and human aortic inti...

It has suggested that grape juice consumption has lipid- lowering effect and it is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease. We aimed to evaluate the effects of red grape juice (RGj) consumption on high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein AI (apoAI), apolipoprotein B (apoB) and homocysteine (Hcy) levels in healthy human volunteers. Twenty six healthy and nonsmoking ...

OBJECTIVE Small dense HDL3 particles of defined lipidome and proteome potently protect atherogenic LDL against free radical-induced oxidation; the molecular determinants of such antioxidative activity in these atheroprotective, antiinflammatory particles remain indeterminate. METHODS AND RESULTS Formation of redox-active phosphatidylcholine hydroperoxides (PCOOH) and redox-inactive phosphatid...

The genes for two of the proteins of the plasma lipid transport system, apolipoprotein AI (apoAI) and CIII (apoCIII) are closely linked in the human genome. An approximately equal to 30-kilobase (kb) DNA segment containing these genes and their flanking sequences has been cloned and extensively characterized. Hybridization studies revealed that a DNA fragment located 12 kb 3' to the apoAI gene ...

Dietary administration of probucol (0.5%, wt/wt) efficiently reduced total plasma cholesterol levels in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice (apoE-/-) by 40%, with decreases in high density lipoprotein (HDL) and apoAI by 70 and 50%, respectively. Paradoxically, however, aortic atherosclerotic plaques in the probucol-treated apoE-/- mice formed more rapidly than in the untreated apoE-/- mice, and the...

A reduction in low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol or an increase in high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol can reduce the risk of development of atherosclerosis through overlapping or independent mechanisms. However, the clinical outcome of combined therapy remains in debate. In this study, we first characterized effects of various constructs of helper-dependent adenoviral vector (HD...