Cholesterol
hideCholesterol is a lipidic, waxy steroid found in the cell membranes and transported in the blood plasma of all animals. It is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes where it is required to establish proper membrane permeability and fluidity. Cholesterol is the principal sterol synthesized by animals, but small quantities are synthesized in other eukaryotes, such as plants and fungi. It is almost completely absent among prokaryotes, which include bacteria. Cholesterol is classified as a sterol.
Since cholesterol is essential for life, it is primarily synthesized de novo within the body. However excessive levels of cholesterol in blood circulation are strongly associated with progression of atherosclerosis. For an adult, typical total body cholesterol synthesis is about 1 gram per day (less if dietary intake is high) and total body cholesterol content is about 35 g. Average dietary intake in western societies is 0.2 - 0.3 grams. Cholesterol is excreted by the liver via the bile into the digestive tract. Typically about 50% of the excreted cholesterol is reabsorbed by the small bowel back into the blood stream.
The name cholesterol originates from the Greek chole- (bile) and stereos (solid), and the chemical suffix -ol for an alcohol, as François Poulletier de la Salle first identified cholesterol in solid form in gallstones, in 1769. However, it was only in 1815 that chemist Eugène Chevreul named the compound "cholesterine".
For more information about Cholesterol, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with cholesterol
Two-egg diet cracks cholesterol issue
Aug 28, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Research published in The European Journal of Nutrition this week has finally cracked the myths surrounding eggs and cholesterol. The new study showed that people who ate two eggs per day, while on a calo ...
Fast-food linked to Alzheimer's: Swedish scientists
Nov 28, 2008 |
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Mice that were fed a diet rich in fat, sugar and cholesterol for nine months developed a preliminary stage of the morbid irregularities that form in the brains of Alzheimer's patients. The study results, published in a doctoral ...
Researchers study how pistachios may improve heart health
Sep 26, 2008 |
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Going green may be heart healthy if the green you choose is pistachio nuts, according to researchers at Penn State who conducted the first study to investigate the way pistachios lower cholesterol.
Debunking myths about warm-ups, eggs
May 29, 2009 |
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There are so many things to worry about these days. Wouldn't it be nice to cross something off the list? Turns out you can. Researchers have been busy debunking some common medical myths that have been repeated so many times, ...
A scientific breakthrough on the control of the bad cholesterol
Nov 24, 2008 |
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A study performed by the team of Dr. Nabil G. Seidah, Director of the Biochemical Neuroendocrinology Research Unit at the IRCM, shows for the very first time that the degradation by PCSK9 of the LDLR receptor, which is responsible ...
Nutritionists show what beans are worth
Oct 03, 2008 |
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Consider a natural alternative the next time you reach for that cupcake or soda as an afternoon snack. This snack leaves you feeling full, gives you energy, and simultaneously fights “bad”—LDL—cholesterol.
Biophysicists create new model for protein-cholesterol interactions in brain and muscle tissue
Biology /
Sep 26, 2008 |
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Biophysicists at the University of Pennsylvania have used 3,200 computer processors and long-established data on cholesterol's role in the function of proteins to clarify the mysterious interaction between ...
Type 2 Diabetes Rears Its Ugly Head Long Before Diagnosis
May 14, 2009 |
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Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes can present themselves as long as 10 years before diagnosis and most people have no idea before the damage is done.
Researchers learn that some 'good cholesterol' isn't good enough
Dec 01, 2008 |
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If you think your levels of "good cholesterol" are good enough, a new study published in the December 2008 issue of The FASEB Journal suggests that you may want to think again. In the report, researchers from the University of Chi ...
Fish oil and red yeast rice studied for lowering blood cholesterol
Jul 08, 2008 |
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A great deal of scientific evidence shows that cholesterol-reducing medications known as statins can help prevent coronary artery disease. Although the safety of these medications has been well documented, as many as 40 percent ...
Designer RNA fights high cholesterol, researchers find
Aug 11, 2008 |
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Small, specially designed bits of ribonucleic acid (RNA) can interfere with cholesterol metabolism, reducing harmful cholesterol by two-thirds in pre-clinical tests, according to a new study by researchers at UT Southwestern ...
Egg-irony: High cholesterol food may reduce blood pressure
Feb 20, 2009 |
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Researchers in Canada are reporting evidence that eggs — often frowned upon for their high cholesterol content — may reduce another heart disease risk factor — high blood pressure.
No need to fast for cholesterol test
Nov 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Patients do not need to fast before having their cholesterol tested, a major study has found.
Lowering cholesterol early in life could save lives
Aug 05, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- With heart disease maintaining top billing as the leading cause of death in the United States, a team of University of California, San Diego School of Medicine physician-researchers is proposing ...
Low levels of good cholesterol linked to memory loss, dementia risk
Jun 30, 2008 |
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Low levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL) — the "good" cholesterol — in middle age may increase the risk of memory loss and lead to dementia later in life, researchers reported in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Bi ...
