Monday, February 25, 2008

Good Cholesterol HDL

HDL - high density lipoproteins also called "good cholesterol" are the smallest of the lipoproteins. They are very dense because they contain the highest proportion of protein. The liver synthesizes these lipoproteins as complexes of apolipoproteins and phospholipid, which resemble cholesterol-free flattened spherical lipoprotein particles. They are capable of picking up cholesterol, carried internally, from cells they interact with. A plasma enzyme called lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) converts the free cholesterol into cholesteryl ester (a more hydrophobic form of cholesterol) which is then sequestered into the core of the lipoprotein particle eventually making the newly synthesized HDL spherical. They increase in size as they circulate through the bloodstream and incorporate more cholesterol molecules into their structure. Thus it is the concentration of large HDL particles which more accurately reflects protective action, as opposed to the concentration of total HDL particles. This ratio of large HDL to total HDL particles varies widely and is only measured by lipoprotein assays using either electrophoresis or newer NMR spectroscopy.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

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