High-density lipoprotein
HDL (high-density lipoprotein), or “good” cholesterol, absorbs cholesterol and carries it back to the liver. The liver then flushes it from the body. High levels of HDL cholesterol can lower your risk for heart disease and stroke.
Univariate Mendelian randomization analyses showed that the HDL-C was negatively correlated with IA (odds ratio [OR] = 0.816, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.715-0.932, p = 0.003) and ruptured IA (rIA; OR = 0.775, 95% CI = 0.663-0.906, p = 0.001). The multivariate MR-inverse variance weighted analysis showed that the HDL-C was negatively correlated with IA (OR = 0.655, 95% CI = 0.434-0.988, p = 0.043) and rIA (OR = 0.563, 95% CI = 0.347-0.913, p = 0.02), and the LDL-C was negatively correlated with IA (OR = 0.402, 95% CI = 0.191-0.848, p = 0.017) and rIA (OR = 0.376, 95% CI = 0.160-0.883, p = 0.025). Using genetic proxies of known lipid-modifying drugs, we found that the increased HDL-C with cholesterol ester transfer protein proxies was associated with a decreased risk of rIA (OR = 0.852, 95% CI = 0.747-0.973, p = 0.018), and the decreased LDL-C with 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase proxies was associated with increased risk of IA (OR = 1.772, 95% CI = 1.080-2.908, p = 0.024) and rIA (OR = 1.856, 95% CI = 1.022-3.371, p = 0.042).
Genetically determined HDL-C and LDL-C reduce the risk of IA and rIA. The effects of different lipid-modifying drugs on IA need to be further investigated 1).
Hunjadi et al. investigated whether Matcha Green Tea Powder modulates the HDL function and thereby influences the atherogenic process in an animal model with a strong influence on humans situation.
After a pretreatment phase based on a standard diet, ten female New Zealand rabbits were fed a high-fat diet for 20 weeks. The treatment group was additionally administered 1% matcha during the whole experiment. Long-term matcha treatment led to lowered HDL cholesterol, impaired cholesterol transport manifested by reduced in vitro cholesterol efflux capacity, reduced CETP-mediated cholesterol ester (CE) transfer between HDL and triglyceride-rich particles, and reduced macrophage-specific in vivo transfer, where we observed increased absorption of cholesterol in the liver but a decreased secretion into bile. Pulse wave velocity, assessed by nuclear magnetic resonance, was increased in matcha-treated animals, and a similar trend was observed for atherosclerotic lesion formation.
Long-term matcha green tea treatment of hypercholesterolemic rabbits caused impaired reverse cholesterol transport and increased vascular stiffness, and susceptibility for atherosclerotic lesion development. 2).