New Study Questions HDL Cholesterol’s Role

A recent study has reportedly questioned the role of HDL cholesterol in lowering heart disease risk, suggesting instead that one specific protein or compound in so-called “good” cholesterol might be better than others at removing bad cholesterol. Amit Khera, et al., “Cholesterol Efflux Capacity, High-Density Lipoprotein Function, and Atherosclerosis,” New England Journal of Medicine, January 13, 2011. According to the study abstract, researchers measured cholesterol efflux capacity—or how well HDL extracted cholesterol from cells—in “203 healthy volunteers who underwent assessment of carotid artery intima–media thickness, 442 patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease, and 351 patients without such angiographically confirmed disease.”

The results evidently showed that overall HDL levels were “a less effective”
predictor of heart disease than HDL’s ability to remove cholesterol. As one
study author noted, these findings could help researchers identify “a particular
protein that’s a major determinant” of cholesterol efflux capacity, thus
allowing them to test for poor HDL functioning and increased heart disease
risk. See MyHealthNewsDaily, January 13, 2011.