A Possible Cause For Heart Disease
Results are published in the April 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In adults, HDL enriched with apolipoprotein C-1 may be dysfunctional and cause the death of smooth muscle cells that normally are an important part of the protective cap on top of cholesterol plaque in the blood vessels in the heart, Kwiterovich said. If the cap is weakened, the plaque can rupture, causing a heart attack.
"Our hypothesis is that infants with elevated apo C-1 levels at birth will have higher apo C-1 levels in childhood and adulthood" Kwiterovich said. "Many people associate HDL as being the 'good' cholesterol, and indeed, higher levels of HDL in general are, in adults, good. It is the higher apo C-1 levels in these infants that we find worth watching as an early predictor of heart disease. A low-fat diet is particularly important for these children to reduce their risk of heart disease."