Chylomicrons & CVD Risk

[Guest guest]

In one of the previous discussion on the " choleterol myth " , I think I mentioned

chlyomicrons. This is an interesting article on them that came out today and

here is a discussion on the article.

The most important issue is that most all lipid profiles do not (and can not)

measure chylomicrons, which may be some of the most atherogenic particles there

are. This is why total " non-HDL " (TC - HDL) may become the best measure of CVD

risk.

This is also why the focus on HDL is misguided and why a TC of 150 and a HDL of

30 may be better than a TC of 200 and a HDL of 40, even though both have a

TC/HDL ratio of 5:1 and the HDL of 40 appears better than the HDL of 30. The

total non HDL of the first one if 120 and the second one 150.

jeff

Chylomicrons open the door to eventual NPD?

29/11/2004 - The knowledge gap between why people with low 'bad' cholesterol

levels are still susceptible to heart attacks gets narrower with breakthrough

research from a nutritional food scientist suggesting that the little known

chylomicrons and their pathways could play a key role in understanding

cholesterol.

And the knowledge procured could lead to a new direction for product development

in the soaring area of functional foods.

Dr Spencer Proctor at the University of Alberta in Canada believes that

understanding chylomicrons and their metabolism may answer all questions about

cholesterol and the role it plays in the development of diabetes, obesity, and

other cardiovascular diseases.

Chylomicrons, metabolised balls of fat and cholesterol that enter the

bloodstream through the intestines after a meal, gather on arterial walls and

may be as dangerous or more dangerous than low-density lipoprotein (LDL)

cholesterol in causing strokes and heart attacks, says Dr Proctor.

Because chylomicrons are processed so quickly, when a patient gives a blood

sample after fasting for 12 hours or more, chylomicron cholesterol will usually

comprise just 3 per cent of all the cholesterol in the sample.

The UN-backed World Health Organisation estimates that 16.7 million - or 29.2

per cent of total global deaths - result from the various forms of

cardiovascular disease.

In parallel, foods designed to help prevent heart disease are growing at an

annual compound rate of 7.6 per cent, according to Datamonitor, predicted to

reach sales of ?145 million (EUR212m) in 2007 in the UK alone.

" We were the first in the world to label chylomicrons remnants with florescence

and visually show that these particles can accumulate in arterial vessels, "

comments Dr Proctor in a University of Alberta report.

" Our next goal is to figure out why they get stuck and whether or not they play

a significant role in the development of coronary artery disease - our suspicion

now is that they do, " he adds.

LDL, or 'bad' cholesterol, is the most prevalent type of cholesterol, usually

comprising about 70 per cent of all cholesterols found in blood samples taken

from patients who have fasted for 12 hours or more.

For this reason, most researchers believe LDL cholesterol, which is produced in

the liver and delivered to the rest of the body over a period of days after food

is ingested, is the leading culprit among cholesterols in the development of

coronary artery disease.

But science has yet to explain why 40 per cent of people who are highly

vulnerable to suffering a stroke or heart attack have low or normal LDL levels.

Proctor <http://www.afns.ualberta.ca/People/Index.asp?Page=Directory & ID=1236>

believes chylomicrons and their remnants are the key to solving this problem.

Using imaging tools, Proctor and colleagues tracked the formation and delivery

pathways of chylomicrons in rabbits.

Their research showed that chylomicron remnants form smaller lipoproteins, which

can build up more quickly in arteries than any other type of

cholesterol-carriers, including LDL.

Full findings

<http://atvb.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/01.ATV.0000143859.75035.5av1>

are published in the November issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular

Biology.