Lipids articles within Nature Reviews Cardiology

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  • Comment |

    Lipophagy is a type of selective autophagy that targets lipid droplets for degradation. Since the discovery of lipophagy in 2009, research has uncovered a central role for this process in cellular lipid metabolism, including in atherogenic foam cells. Therefore, increasing lipophagy might be a therapeutic target to reverse lipid build-up in atherosclerosis.

    • Thomas Laval
    •  & Mireille Ouimet

  • Comment |

    Low plasma levels of HDL cholesterol are a risk factor for infection and hospitalization for infectious disease. Recent work suggests that inadequate levels of HDL particles of specific sizes — small and medium — account for this risk. In this Comment, we discuss the mechanistic implications of these observations and the methodologies used to quantify HDL size.

    • Jay W. Heinecke
    •  & W. Sean Davidson

  • Research Highlight |

    A new study has identified a scavenger receptor-independent mechanism of atherosclerosis development by showing that LDL uptake through macropinocytosis contributes to macrophage foam cell formation and atherosclerosis development and that an FDA-approved drug that inhibits macropinocytosis inhibits atherosclerosis development in mice.

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz

  • Review Article |

    In this Review, Borén and colleagues provide an overview of the pathways involved in triglyceride-rich lipoprotein (TRL) assembly and intravascular processing, and discuss how the dysregulation of triglyceride transport can result in hypertriglyceridaemia.

    • Jan Borén
    • , Marja-Riitta Taskinen
    •  & Chris J. Packard

  • Review Article |

    Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare form of heart failure that presents in late pregnancy or early in the postpartum period. In this Review, Hoes and colleagues discuss the known risk factors for PPCM, including genetic variants and pre-eclampsia, and describe the potential pathogenic mechanisms underlying the development of PPCM such as disrupted metabolic homeostasis in the heart owing to pregnancy-induced hormone fluctuations.

    • Martijn F. Hoes
    • , Zoltan Arany
    •  & Peter van der Meer

  • Review Article |

    Fatty acids affect the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, and accumulating evidence shows that fatty acids also modulate T cell functions and processes. This Review summarizes the effects of circulating fatty acids on the metabolism, activation, proliferation and polarization of T cells and how these changes influence the subsequent functions of T cells in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.

    • Nathalie A. Reilly
    • , Esther Lutgens
    •  & J. Wouter Jukema

  • Review Article |

    In this Review, Gotto and colleagues summarize the evolution of our understanding of HDL structure and function, current models of atheroprotection by HDL involving reverse cholesterol transport, and their identification of a correlation between the bioavailability of free cholesterol contained in HDL and atherogenesis.

    • Henry J. Pownall
    • , Corina Rosales
    •  & Antonio M. Gotto Jr

  • Research Highlight |

    Deficiency in the orphan G protein-coupled receptor 146 (GPR146) decreases blood lipid levels and protects against atherosclerosis in mice independently of LDL receptor activity, according to a new study.

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz

  • Review Article |

    Dietary fats comprise heterogeneous molecules with diverse structures and complex health effects. This Review discusses the effects of different dietary fats on cell processes and cardiometabolic disease risk factors and clinical events, highlighting areas of controversy and future research directions to improve the prevention and management of cardiometabolic diseases through optimization of dietary fat intake.

    • Jason H. Y. Wu
    • , Renata Micha
    •  & Dariush Mozaffarian

  • Research Highlight |

    The scavenger receptor class B member 1 (SRB1) in endothelial cells mediates active transcellular transport of circulating LDL into the artery wall and thereby drives the accumulation of LDL in macrophages, which become foam cells and promote the development of atherosclerosis

    • Irene Fernández-Ruiz

  • Comment |

    LDL cholesterol is an important contributor to the risk of coronary heart disease, and its measurement is central to evaluating the effects of lipid-modifying therapies. Several ‘LDL-cholesterol’ assays exist but their methodologies differ, leading to between-assay heterogeneity in values of ‘LDL cholesterol’. We advocate the need for awareness of the potential implications.

    • Michael V. Holmes
    •  & Mika Ala-Korpela

  • Review Article |

    In this Review, Boffa and Koschinsky discuss the role of lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) as a risk factor for atherothrombotic cardiovascular disease and calcific aortic valve disease, highlighting the important function of oxidized phospholipid modifications of Lp(a), which elicit harmful signalling processes in the arterial wall and the valve leaflet, in mediating the effects of this lipoprotein on both disorders.

    • Michael B. Boffa
    •  & Marlys L. Koschinsky

  • News & Views |

    New therapeutic strategies are needed for patients with atherosclerosis. Despite failing to reach its primary end point, a multicenter, phase II, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of RVX-208—an oral, synthetic quinazoline molecule that stimulates expression of endogenous apolipoprotein A-I—has provided somewhat encouraging results. Nevertheless, detailed investigations are still needed if we are ever to realize the full atheroprotective potential of novel HDL-targeted therapies.

    • Prediman K. Shah

  • Review Article |

    The relationship between an elevated level of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) and increased risk of cardiovascular disease is well established. National and international guidelines are continuously being revised to recommend increasingly lower LDL-C targets for cardiovascular disease prevention. In this Review, Drs. Brautbar and Ballantyne examine the evidence and recommendations for optimal LDL-C levels and the agents currently available or under development to achieve these levels.

    • Ariel Brautbar
    •  & Christie M. Ballantyne

  • Review Article |

    Although high levels of HDL seem to be protective against clinical events from atherosclerosis, assessing the composition and function of HDL is a more-accurate approach to determine cardiovascular risk. The authors of this Review describe the atheroprotective effects of HDL, which have been attributed to its anti-inflammatory properties and role in cholesterol efflux. The relationship between impaired HDL function and cardiovascular disease is also discussed, as well as approaches to evaluate HDL functionality.

    • Mohamad Navab
    • , Srinivasa T. Reddy
    •  & Alan M. Fogelman

  • Review Article |

    The benefits of lowering LDL-cholesterol levels to prevent clinical events are well-recognized. However, other parameters of the lipoprotein–lipid profile are likely to contribute to cardiovascular risk and should be used in addition to the traditional lipid profile for improved assessment of cardiovascular risk. The authors of this Review discuss alternative and emerging lipid parameters associated with cardiovascular disease that could identify patients at high risk and those who will benefit most from lipid-lowering therapy.

    • Benoit J. Arsenault
    • , S. Matthijs Boekholdt
    •  & John J. P. Kastelein

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