Protein Linked to Heart Attacks: New Implications for Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs (VIDEO)

A certain protein may just be linked to heart attacks. Scientist have uncovered an intriguing connection between heart attacks and a protein that is of great interest to drug companies for its impact on cholesterol.

The protein in question is called PCSK9. In this case, the researchers examined blood samples from patients enrolled in the Ottawa Heart Genomics Study. Surprisingly, they found elevated levels of PCSK9 in samples taken from patients at the time of acute heart attack, but not in samples taken from patients with a history of heart attack or from those with coronary artery disease who never had a heart attack.

"Are PCSK9 levels elevated shortly before you get a heart attack?" asked Alexandre Stewart, one of the researchers, in a news release. "If levels only go up after, that would suggest a side effect of the heart attack. But if they go up before, that suggests it might trigger the event, or make it worse."

Currently, the medical community is interested in PCSK9 for its effects on LDL cholesterol. The protein can actually increase levels of LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream by reducing the ability of liver cells to remove and destroy it. Blocking the effects of PCSK9 could potentially offer a new way tl lower LDL cholesterol.

Currently, scientists are investigating this protein a bit more closely. Because there's a link between PCSK9 and heart attacks, researchers will have to conduct more studies in order to find out whether drugs to block PCSK9 will be a good investment when it comes to lowering cholesterol.

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.

Want to learn more? Check out the video below, courtesy of YouTube.