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Posted on Nov 24, 2008, 7 a.m.
By Rich Hurd
New research has revealed that LDL or “bad” cholesterol inhibits the breakdown of fat in adipocytes, or fat cells, thus suggesting that it is a regulator of fat stores.
New research has revealed that LDL or “bad” cholesterol inhibits the breakdown of fat in adipocytes, or fat cells, thus suggesting that it is a regulator of fat stores.
Previous research has shown that the release of free fatty acids from adipocytes increases the synthesis of precursors of LDL cholesterol. However, Dr Johan Björkegren and colleagues at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, found that LDL cholesterol slows the rate of lipolysis (fat breakdown) in adipocytes. Together, these findings suggest that there is a “reciprocal link between the liver and peripheral fat regulating fat turnover,” says Björkegren in a news release.
The finding also suggests that drugs, such as statins, which lower LDL cholesterol may also promote the breakdown of fat stores.
Skogsberg J, Dicker A, Rydén M, Ã…ström G, Nilsson R, et al. 2008 ApoB100-LDL Acts as a Metabolic Signal from Liver to Peripheral Fat Causing Inhibition of Lipolysis in Adipocytes. PLoS ONE. 2008;3(11): e3771 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003771
News release: Bad cholesterol inhibits the breakdown of peripheral fat. Karolinska Institutet. November 20th 2008.
