Cholesterol in Biological News

Lowering your cholesterol may decrease your risk of cancer

Boston, MA Current research suggests that lowering cholesterol may block the growth of prostate tumors. The related report by Solomon et al, "Ezetimibe Is an Inhibitor of Tumor Angiogenesis," appears in the March 2009 issue of The American Journal of Pathology . High cholesterol not only lea...

Hypertension and cholesterol medications present in water released into the St. Lawrence River

This press release is available in French . Montreal, January 26, 2009 A study conducted by Universit de Montral researchers on downstream and upstream water from the Montreal wastewater treatment plant has revealed the presence of chemotherapy products and certain hypertension and cholest...

New genes present drug targets for managing cholesterol and glucose levels

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Scientists have identified 12 new genes that are somewhat strange bedfellows: Some link gallstones and blood cholesterol levels, others link melatonin and sleep patterns to small increases in glucose levels and larger jumps in the risk of diabetes. While these associations a...

MSU researcher studies ties between cholesterol drugs, muscle problems

EAST LANSING, Mich. A Michigan State University researcher is studying whether the most popular class of cholesterol-lowering drugs may cause muscle problems in users. There is accumulating evidence that the effect statins can have on skeletal muscle including muscle weakness, fatigue and det...

Mitochondrial cholesterol makes response to chemotherapy difficult in hepatic cancer

This release is available in Spanish . Cancer is a disease characterised by important metabolic alterations. Not only these adaptative changes give higher proliferative capacity to cancer cells, but they also contribute to higher resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. The research group led...

High cholesterol in your 40s increases risk of Alzheimer's disease

CHICAGO People with high cholesterol in their early 40s are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those with low cholesterol, according to research that will be presented at the upcoming American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 1219, 2008. "Our ...

Study locates cholesterol genes; finds surprises about good, bad cholesterol

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---An international study of 20,000 people found seven new genes that influence blood cholesterol levels, a major factor in heart disease, and confirmed 11 other genes previously thought to influence cholesterol. The international study led by researchers from the University o...

Surprise -- cholesterol may actually pose benefits, study shows

COLLEGE STATION, Jan. 9, 2008 If youre worried about high cholesterol levels and keeping heart-healthy as you get older, dont push aside bacon and eggs just yet. A new study says they might actually provide a benefit. Researchers at Texas A&M University have discovered that lower cholesterol lev...

Contribution of cholesterol transporter to vascular disease

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), a transporter of cholesterol, may also contribute to vascular diseases by a previously unidentified mechanism, according to a report published online this week in EMBO reports. The study reveals a link between native LDL (nLDL) and the vascular endothelial growth fac...

More on mate tea: lower cholesterol and an international agreement

When a study in her lab showed that mate (mah tā) tea drinkers had experienced a significant increase in the activity of an enzyme that promotes HDL (good) cholesterol while lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, University of Illinois scientist Elvira de Mejia headed for Argentina where mate tea ha...

Research explains link between cholesterol and heart disease

Cholesterol contributes to atherosclerosis a condition that greatly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke by suppressing the activity of a key protein that protects the heart and blood vessels, researchers at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine have found. Their findings co...

A scientific breakthrough on the control of the bad cholesterol

Montral, November 24, 2008 A study performed by the team of Dr. Nabil G. Seidah, Director of the Biochemical Neuroendocrinology Research Unit at the IRCM, shows for the very first time that the degradation by PCSK9 of the LDLR receptor, which is responsible for removing the bad cholesterol (LDL-c...

Niacin's role in maintaining good cholesterol

A research team has uncovered the likely target of niacin (vitamin B3) in the liver, which should provide a clearer picture of how this vitamin helps maintain adequate HDL-cholesterol levels in the blood and thus lower the risk of heart disease. While niacin can increase plasma HDL levels, the ...

Chocolate bar shown to lower cholesterol

The results of a University of Illinois study have demonstrated an effective way to lower cholesterol levels by eating chocolate bars. Eating two CocoaVia dark chocolate bars a day not only lowered cholesterol, it had the unexpected effect of also lowering systolic blood pressure, said John Er...

MIT links gene to cholesterol

CAMBRIDGE, MA--MIT researchers have discovered a link between a gene believed to promote long lifespan and a pathway that flushes cholesterol from the body. The finding could help researchers create drugs that lower the risk of diseases associated with high cholesterol, including atheroscleros...

Primitive yeast yields secrets of human cholesterol and drug metabolism

By first probing the way primitive yeast make cholesterol, a team of scientists has discovered a long-sought protein whose human counterpart controls cholesterol production and potentially drug metabolism. The collaborative study by investigators at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Va...

Gene transfer using mutant form of good cholesterol cuts vascular plaque and inflammation

Transfer of a gene that produces a mutant form of good cholesterol provides significantly better anti-plaque and anti-inflammation benefits than therapy using the "normal" HDL gene, according to a mouse study conducted by cardiology researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and reported in the Oct...

Nearly half of people who need cholesterol treatment don't get it

Even though treatment for cholesterol disorders can reduce the risk of heart and blood vessel disease by about 30 percent over five years, many at-risk people aren't getting adequate treatment, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and colleagues reporting in Circu...

Baby's genes affect mom's cholesterol levels

A group of Belgian researchers has determined that a pregnant woman's ability to metabolize fats is determined not only by her genes but by her baby's genes as well. The details of their findings appear in the November issue of the Journal of Lipid Research, an American Society for Biochemistry and...

Insight into natural cholesterol control suggests novel cholesterol-lowering therapy

New work reported in the March issue of Cell Metabolism has provided insight into a key mechanism by which cells limit cholesterol synthesis. The finding suggests a novel approach to the development of cholesterol-lowering drugs that may boost the effect of statins, one of the most prescribed chole...

Research shows rates of severe childhood obesity have tripled

...aving metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors for heart attack, stroke and diabetes. These risk factors include higher-than normal blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin levels. "These findings demonstrate the significant health risks facing this morbidly obese group," wrote the researchers in their rep...

Health benefits of physical activity more pronounced in women

...dies have found that physical exercise can improve cholesterol levels and subsequently decrease the risks of card...en provides race- and gender- specific data on the cholesterol effects of physical activity, with the interesting...atistically significant decreases in the "bad" LDL cholesterol were only observed in women, with particularly str...

Two dietary oils, two sets of benefits for older women with diabetes

...pe 2 diabetes but did not need to take insulin to treat the disease. Many did take other medications, such as those used to manage blood sugar levels, cholesterol or blood pressure. The women were randomized into two groups to determine which supplement they took first. Each initial 16-week supplementation wa...

ADA releases updated position paper on vegetarian diets

...ian diets are often associated with health advantages including lower blood cholesterol levels, lower risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure levels and lower ...verall cancer rates. Vegetarian diets tend to be lower in saturated fat and cholesterol and have higher levels of dietary fiber, magnesium and potassium, vitamins ...

Trans fats hinder multiple steps in blood flow regulation pathways

...in the arteries. And trans fats have been found to change the composition of cell membranes, making them more leaky to calcium. Inflammation, high LDL cholesterol and calcified arteries are the signature ingredients of atherosclerosis. Trans fats also were shown to interfere with an enzyme that converts the e...

Following the dietary guidelines may slow heart disease in women

...9 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition . The study authors found that adherence to recommendations for whole-grain, total fat, and cholesterol intake were most associated with decreased atherosclerotic progression. The most important findings are that adherence to the DGA in individuals with...

MicroRNAs grease the cell's circadian clockwork

...our hours. More than 350 genes involved in metabolism, including that of cholesterol and lipids, are expressed in liver cells in a cyclic fashion. Many of them ...t in liver. It has caught considerable attention for its role in regulating cholesterol and lipid metabolism and in aiding the replication of hepatitis C virus" ex...

One size does not fit all

...cribed class of drugs used by millions worldwide to effectively lower blood cholesterol levels, may actually have a negative impact in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) pati... to cross the blood-brain barrier and access the CNS, and the enrichment of cholesterol in the myelin sheath." The objective of the MNI study was to determine t...

Cholesterol-busting bug with a taste for waste

...obiology . A steroid found in all body tissues, cholesterol is used in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical indust...ding agent. As a consequence, steroids - including cholesterol - are a major group of contaminants in urban sewag...ordonia cholesterolivorans ' ability to break down cholesterol means that it could be used to clean up contaminat...

Learning how the pieces responsible for interpreting the human genome work

... thousands of genes. "This combination is only beginning to be elucidated. For example, distinct combinations of three proteins were found to regulate cholesterol metabolism whereas other combination regulate other cellular processes". The main challenge for researchers is to reveal how these proteins cooper...

Research suggests vegetable juice may help people with metabolic syndrome lose weight

...p Hypertension) diet that emphasized eating lean meat, lower fat dairy, whole grains, vegetables and fruit daily and keeping saturated fat, total fat, cholesterol and sodium in check. Two of the groups were given Low Sodium V8 100% vegetable juice and instructed to drink 1 or 2 cups every day for 12 weeks, whil...

New human study reinforces antioxidant benefits of tart cherries

...acting inflammation. Dr. Warber's colleagues at the University of Michigan have previously shown in animals that cherry-enriched diets can lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce triglycerides, an unhealthy type of blood fat. 2 Other benefits of cherries found in animal studies include a 14 percent lower body...

Male impotence drugs may deserve a second look in women

...ual dysfunction provides an early, or at least visible, clue of vascular disease. Vascular problems, that can result from diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol and the like, are a major cause of sexual dysfunction in men and women. "You don't feel atherosclerosis but you know darn well if you are not getting ...

Laughter remains good medicine

...tive adjunct therapy in diabetes care, raised good cholesterol and lowered inflammation. The researchers will pre...As Adjunct Therapy in Diabetic Care, Increases HDL cholesterol and Attenuates Inflammatory Cytokines and hs-CRP a... team saw significant improvement in Group L: HDL cholesterol had risen by 26 percent in Group L (laughter), and...

Laughter remains good medicine

...tive adjunct therapy in diabetes care, raised good cholesterol and lowered inflammation. The researchers will pre...As Adjunct Therapy in Diabetic Care, Increases HDL cholesterol and Attenuates Inflammatory Cytokines and hs-CRP a... team saw significant improvement in Group L: HDL cholesterol had risen by 26 percent in Group L (laughter), and...

CFI awards $854,098 to University of Montreal and partners

...or a total of $328,209 including contributions from the Government of Quebec and the private sector. She will study the number of particles that carry cholesterol in the blood, otherwise known as low density lipoproteins (LDL), as a risk factor for insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes. "My research explore...

Source of major health benefits in olive oil revealed

...a-Martins, who works at the University of Porto. Heart disease is caused partly by reactive oxygen, including free radicals, acting on LDL or "bad" cholesterol and resulting in hardening of the arteries. Red blood cells are particularly susceptible to oxidative damage because they are the body's oxygen carrie...

New approach discovered to lowering triglycerides

...c acid had a significant effect in lowering triglycerides, which along with cholesterol levels and blood pressure are one of the key risk factors in cardiovascular...ycerides basically a form of fat were not thought to be as significant as cholesterol at predicting atherosclerosis and heart disease. That perspective has chang...

Researchers discover link between schizophrenia and diabetes

...tiveness Schizophrenia Trial showed the prevalence rate of metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors that include abdominal obesity, high lipid and cholesterol blood levels and insulin resistance, is more than 50 percent in women and about 37 percent in men with schizophrenia. "Many people focus on the bra...

Diabetics on high-fiber diets might need extra calcium, report UT Southwestern researchers

...n they ate 24 grams a day. Excreting less calcium indicates that they absorbed less of the mineral. "We already know that fiber helps improve your cholesterol and glucose control and improves your bowel regularity. Our new findings suggest that dietary fiber reduces the body's capacity to absorb calcium," sa...