The effectiveness of blood cholesterol lowering is a question of duration as well as magnitude

✍ Scribed by John C. Stanley

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 136 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0956-666X
• DOI: 10.1002/lite.200700085

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

A high circulating LDL‐cholesterol level is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. LDL‐cholesterol is cleared from the circulation by the LDL receptor and hence the more receptors an individual possesses the lower the circulating LDL‐cholesterol level will be. Statins increase the synthesis of new LDL receptors and hence reduce circulating LDL‐cholesterol levels and lower the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. However, low circulating levels of LDL resulting from 5 years of statin treatment are not as effective at lowering the risk of developing cardiovascular disease as lifelong exposure to low circulating levels of LDL resulting from loss of function mutations in the gene for PSCK9 a protein which breaks down the LDL receptor. This implies that the effectiveness of statins depends not only on the magnitude of cholesterol lowering but also on its duration.