High density lipoproten cholesterol [HDL] metabolism and its role in chemic heart disease

Case control and prospective epidemiology studies have found a striking, consistently negative association between High Density Lipoprotein [HDL] levels and coronary vascular events. As a result, the genetic and environmental determinants of HDL levels are being studied intensively. These investigationS and their potential clinical applications require a fundamental understanding of the structure, function and metabolism of HDL and its components. Of the special interest are the means by which it exerts its apparently protective effect. In this report we characterize the structure of HDL and describe its components, particularly the protein component. We discuss HDL metabolism in light of the relationship of HDL to other lipoprotein classes and relate what little is known of the functions of HDL. We also review the biochemical mechanism by which HDL may protect against cardiovascular disease and discuss further biochemical research that will be necessary for a better understanding of HDL. Interest in HDL has been greatly intensified in recent years, stimulated largely by the finding that HDL is inversely related to coronary artery disease. Case-control and prospective observations of the striking, consistent and independent negative association between HDL levels and coronary vascular have in turn generated new interest in the structure, competitive and metabolism of these fascinating lipoproteins. Several studies carried out in Pakistan also reveal the inverse relation of HDL to HDL1,2. This article contains a tremendous amount of information on HDL and its relationship to genetic and environmental factors which should be useful to investigators and clinicians in their evaluation and use of HDL cholesterol measurements to assess heart disease risk. A knowledge of the structure, function and metabolism of HDL and its components is essential to understand what is being measured, and by what molecular mechanisms HDL may prevent or retard vascular disease

Lipid profile in ischemic heart disease in patients at Larkana

The lipid profile levels in ninty six [83 males of 13 females] ischaemic heart disease [IHD] patients aged 22 to 60 years divided into elder and younger age groups with upper and low income division alongwith 45 control subjects 611 matched for age and socioeconomic status were studied. Significantly elevated serum cholesterol, LDL cholesterol triglycerides, phospholipids and total lipids as well as significantly decreased HDL-cholesterol levels were found in IHD patients compared with control subjects. It was found that inspite of increased lipid profile with decreased HDL in IHD, there was no significant difference between the upper income and low income social classes, particularly in elder patients, but the difference was significant in upper and lower social classes in norm: III subjects