Good cholesterol protects the liver from inflammation and injury, study shows
The body s so-called good cholesterol may be even better than we realize. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that one type of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) has a previously unknown role in protecting the liver from injury. This HDL protects the liver by blocking inflammatory signals produced by common gut bacteria.
The study is published July 23 in the journal
Science.
HDL is mostly known for mopping up cholesterol in the body and delivering it to the liver for disposal. But in the new study, the researchers identified a special type of HDL called HDL3 that, when produced by the intestine, blocks gut bacterial signals that cause liver inflammation. If not blocked, these bacterial signals travel from the intestine to the liver, where they activate immune cells that trigger an inflammatory state, which leads to liver damage.
Kangwon
Kangwon-do
South-korea
Emilyj-onufer
Bradw-warner
Gwendalynj-randolph
Emilr-unanue
Yong-hyun-han
Jessiel-ternberg
Emily-henderson
Kangwon-national-university
Washington-university
Brad W. Warner
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that a type of good cholesterol called HDL3, when produced in the intestine, protects the liver from inflammation and injury. First author Yong-Hyun Han, PhD, (left) and co-author and Washington University surgical resident Emily Onufer, MD, work in the surgical suite where the mouse surgeries were conducted as part of this study. Han did this work while a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of senior author Gwendalyn Randolph, PhD.
The body’s so-called good cholesterol may be even better than we realize. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that one type of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) has a previously unknown role in protecting the liver from injury. This HDL protects the liver by blocking inflammatory signals produced by common gut bacteria.
Kangwon
Kangwon-do
South-korea
Gwendalyn-randolph
Yong-hyun-han
Bradw-warner
Emilyj-onufer
Emilr-unanue
Julia-evangelou-strait
Gwendalynj-randolph
Jessiel-ternberg
Emily-onufer