Endothelial Lipase Regulates HDL Cholesterol Levels

A recent study has found that endothelial lipase (EL), the enzyme product of a recently characterized member of the lipase gene family that is expressed in a variety of different tissues, plays a direct role in controlling the metabolism of high density lipoproteins (HDL) in the body. The study appeared in the February 2003 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Investigators from Stanford University Medical Center (Stanford, CA, USA; www.stanford.edu) examined the gene's exact role in regulating HDL cholesterol levels by studying genetic models with altered levels of EL expression. Working with mouse models, the researchers increased EL expression in one group by inserting copies of the human gene and decreased EL expression by knocking out the mouse gene in another group.

Altering the genes showed a clear and significant inverse relationship between HDL cholesterol level and EL expression. Levels of HDL cholesterol decreased by 19% in the first group and increased by 57% in the group lacking the gene.

"It was a striking, if not dramatic, finding that this gene that we found in the blood vessel walls appeared to regulate HDL cholesterol levels,” explained senior author Prof. Thomas Quertermous, chief of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. "This is a significant and unexpected finding, and the gene is going to be a real target for the prevention and treatment of heart disease. This becomes one of the most attractive targets available for the development of pharmaceutical agents to modulate HDL cholesterol levels.”




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Stanford University School of Medicine