Quality is crucial in HDL cholesterol

With "good" HDL cholesterol, it's not the quantity in the blood that matters, but the quality
High cholesterol levels are considered hazardous to health. So they are to promote arteriosclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases. This applies to the so-called "bad" LDL cholesterol. In contrast, the "good" HDL cholesterol should even counteract the health risk. Researchers at the Medical University of Innsbruck found in the course of extensive research that HDL cholesterol does not depend on the amount in the blood, but rather on the quality. So much "good" cholesterol is useless if it does not work, the researchers report in a statement from the university.

"Good "HDL Cholesterien acts as a vehicle for" bad "Cholesterien
A high level of HDL cholesterol is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. That's what scientists found out years ago. As a result, many patients with too much "bad" cholesterol in their blood have been treated with drugs that increase HDL. However, since these agents were not effective due to an inhibition of cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) - a protein produced in the liver and then released into the blood, which plays an essential role in the reverse cholesterol transport with HDL - and an even more deaths occurred in a drug, It was clear to researchers that not a large amount of HDL cholesterol would reduce the risk of atherosclerosis and other diseases, but that the quality of HDL should be crucial.

HDL cholesterol is not always the same. It depends on the quality. Image: Sophia Winters / fotolia

HDL cholesterol acts as a transport agent that transports the "bad" cholesterol from the cells into the liver with the help of CETP, because the body cells themselves are not able to break down cholesterol.

Quality of HDL cholesterol could be improved in the future by new drugs
The researchers performed measurements of cholesterol efflux capacity in patients with coronary heart disease from the LURIC study (Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health Study), which shows how HDL particles can absorb cholesterol from the foam cells of atherosclerotic damaged blood vessels. "In a first study, we were able to show that patients with low CETP levels actually have a decreased efflux capacity. This finding encouraged us to carry out the extremely complex measurement of cholesterol efflux capacity in the entire LURIC population, "reports Prof. Andreas Ritsch from the Medical University of Innsbruck. The researchers concluded that patients with low CETP levels actually have reduced HDL function, which promotes increased cardiovascular mortality. "We looked at this in a ten-year prospective study, because you can see that quite clearly," quotes "orf.at" Ritsch. One has to look in the context of a personalized therapy, "who needs this medicine and who does not, then one will have chances of success". It would also need new drugs that improve the quality of HDL cholesterol. (Ag)