No abstract

These observations indicate that LOX-1 is extensively expressed in the proliferated intima of grafted veins and in advanced atherosclerotic carotid arteries. Further, LOX-1 is colocalized with apoptotic cells. These observations may relate to the phenomenon of plaque rupture, and provide targets for developing new therapies.

We investigated the lipid lowering and anti-atherosclerotic effects of atorvastatin in patients with hypercholesterolemia. Thirty patients were given atorvastatin 10 mg daily, and assessed for serum lipids, intima-media thickness (IMT), and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (ba-PWV) at the baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Remnant-like particle-cholesterol (RLP-C), lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were measured in some patients at the baseline and at 6 months. Total cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were significantly decreased by 32%, 23% and 44% at 6 months, respectively, and these effects were sustained at 12 months. There was no change in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. IMT at the baseline was 0.

Abstract-Pre␤1-high density lipoprotein (pre␤1-HDL), the initial acceptor of cell-derived cholesterol, can be generated from HDL 2 by hepatic lipase. Because bezafibrate elevates lipase activity, it may increase pre␤1-HDL at the expense of HDL 2 . To answer this question, we determined the apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) distribution in 20 hypertriglyceridemics (triglyceridesϾ2.26 mmol/L) and 20 sex-matched normolipidemics by native 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis. At baseline, pre␤1-HDL was 70% higher in hypertriglyceridemics than in normolipidemics (123.5Ϯ49.