Journal News

How do diet and lipoprotein levels affect heart health

Seema Nath
Oct. 23, 2024

Cardiovascular diseases are among the leading causes of death globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year. An important risk factor of heart disease is an unhealthy diet leading to overweight and obesity, high blood pressure and increased levels of glucose and lipids in blood. Drugs that help manage body weight have clinical value but do not help prevent premature deaths. Hence, scientists seek ways to identify and treat individuals at higher risk of heart disease.

Low-density lipoprotein particles transport cholesterol, phospholipids, triglycerides and certain vitamins in blood plasma. A single LDL particle contains 3,000 to 6,000 fat molecules and a single apolipoprotein B molecule, a large protein (blue), building the surface with phospholipids and cholesterol molecules (orange).
selvanegra/iStock
Low-density lipoprotein particles transport cholesterol, phospholipids, triglycerides and certain vitamins in blood plasma. A single LDL particle contains 3,000 to 6,000 fat molecules and a single apolipoprotein B molecule, a large protein (blue), building the surface with phospholipids and cholesterol molecules (orange).

Increased levels of triglycerides and small low-density lipoproteins, or LDL, and low level of high-density lipoproteins, or HDL are markers of atherogenic dyslipidemia, a metabolic condition that builds plaques in the arteries, leading to heart diseases. Previously, cross-sectional studies have shown a correlation between high triglyceride levels and soluble LDL receptor, or sLDLR.

Ronald Krauss and his group at the University of California, San Francisco in collaboration with Christopher Gardner’s team in Stanford University recently showed dynamic changes in lipids and lipoproteins in conjunction with sLDLR; the study was published in the Journal of Lipid Research.

Krauss is interested in understanding the mechanisms regulating plasma lipoprotein metabolism that may impact cardiovascular disease risk and discovering sLDLR as an important component that impacts it. The Krauss lab uses ion mobility analysis to subdivide fractions of various densities of lipoproteins into narrow intervals of their respective subclasses. His team used this technique to study the correlation between lipoprotein particles and cardiometabolic risk, a lipid measure of heart disease risk.

Gardner provided samples from Diet Intervention Examining the Factors Interacting with Treatment Success, or DIETFITS, a study in which people were given either a healthy low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet to determine how lipid and lipoprotein fractions influence cardiometabolic risk. The researchers investigated the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationship of lipids, lipoproteins related to the level of sLDLR and triglyceride with a baseline of six months.

According to Krauss, using principal component analysis, his team showed that the level of sLDLR is tightly regulated to these other lipid measurements. The study population was limited, so this study must be replicated to make generalizations about the conclusions.

It has already been shown that he protease, membrane type 1–matrix metalloproteinase, or MT1-MMP, cleaves the ligand binding domain of sLDLR capable of binding to very low-density lipoprotein, or VLDL, and LDL particle and increases the level of sLDLR in plasma.

“The work is clinically and scientifically important for developing new therapeutic approaches to either target the protease and/or other mechanisms to inhibit the cleaving of LDLR,” Krauss said. “As the free domain of LDLR circulating in plasma acquires new function by binding to VLDL, mechanisms to directly stop the association of LDLR with VLDL could also be potential measurement to lower the atherogenic dyslipidemia.”

Krauss said the study opens new avenues to explore “how the soluble LDLR achieves this new feature by unknown conformational changes.”

“MT1-MMP is thought to be activated by unknown inflammatory signaling pathways,” he said, “which also needs further investigation along with its mode of interaction with sLDLR.”

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.

Learn more
Seema Nath

Seema Nath is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She is an ASBMB volunteer contributor.

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in Science

Science highlights or most popular articles

Antibiotic sensor directly binds drug in resistant bacteria
Journal News

Antibiotic sensor directly binds drug in resistant bacteria

Oct. 8, 2025

Researchers at Drexel University uncover how the vancomycin-resistant bacterial sensor binds to the antibiotic, offering insights to guide inhibitor design that restores antibiotic effectiveness against hospital-acquired infections.

ApoA1 reduce atherosclerotic plaques via cell death pathway
Journal News

ApoA1 reduce atherosclerotic plaques via cell death pathway

Oct. 1, 2025

Researchers show that ApoA1, a key HDL protein, helps reduce plaque and necrotic core formation in atherosclerosis by modulating Bim-driven macrophage death. The findings reveal new insights into how ApoA1 protects against heart disease.

Omega-3 lowers inflammation, blood pressure in obese adults
Journal News

Omega-3 lowers inflammation, blood pressure in obese adults

Oct. 1, 2025

A randomized study shows omega-3 supplements reduce proinflammatory chemokines and lower blood pressure in obese adults, furthering the understanding of how to modulate cardiovascular disease risk.

AI unlocks the hidden grammar of gene regulation
Feature

AI unlocks the hidden grammar of gene regulation

Sept. 30, 2025

Using fruit flies and artificial intelligence, Julia Zeitlinger’s lab is decoding genome patterns — revealing how transcription factors and nucleosomes control gene expression, pushing biology toward faster, more precise discoveries.

Zebrafish model links low omega-3s to eye abnormalities
Journal News

Zebrafish model links low omega-3s to eye abnormalities

Sept. 24, 2025

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz developed a zebrafish model to show that low maternal docosahexaenoic acid can disrupt embryo eye development and immune gene expression, offering a tool to study nutrition in neurodevelopment.

Top reviewers at ASBMB journals
Observance

Top reviewers at ASBMB journals

Sept. 19, 2025

Editors recognize the heavy-lifters and rising stars during Peer Review Week.