Researchers Discover New Way to Reduce Fat in Blood

A latest study conducted by researchers at SUNY Downstate Medical Center offers a novel way to treat those suffering from high cholesterol.

One of the risk factor for various cardiovascular and metabolic disorders is Hyperlipidiemia that is a disorder characterized by excess lipids or fats in the blood.  This disorder builds as a result of unhealthy diet choices such as fatty food. The western diet is known to add high levels of lipids such as triglycerides and cholesterol.

In this study, a team of researchers led by M. Mahmood Hussain, PhD, Professor of Cell Biology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, discovered in a mouse model, a regulatory RNA molecule that hinders the production of lipoproteins and lowers hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis.

"High plasma lipid and lipoprotein levels are a risk factor for atherosclerosis, and lowering plasma lipid levels is a national goal. While current medications and changes in diet can be effective, cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death in the United States, and additional approaches to decrease lipid levels are needed," Dr. Hussain said in a press statement.

The researchers noted that excess production of lipoproteins can contribute to hyperlipidemia.

In this study the researchers demonstrate how a genetic regulator microRNA-30c (miR-30C) interacts with MTP and brings its degradation causing reduction in the MTP activity, production of lipoproteins, plasma lipids and atherosclerosis.

Apart from this, the molecule lowers the lipid synthesis autonomously of MTP to lower the problems linked with drug therapies that are focused at lowering lipoprotein production.

From this the researchers conclude that developing a medication similar to miR-30c could help in effectively reducing hyperlipidemia in humans.

This study was published online in the edition of Nature Medicine.