Regulators of LPL, Lipids, and Athersoclerosis

The concentration and degradation of blood lipids underlies a complex regulation. Impaired degradation of blood lipids implicates an increased risk for atherosclerosis and consequently an increased risk for myocardial infarction, stroke, and peripheral artery disease. Especially with genetic studies, proteins important for the regulation of blood lipids have been discovered in recent years. Within the present project these regulatory proteins shall be measured in a large clinical trial. In all participants of this study, coronary angiography has been performed. In addition, comprehensive laboratory investigations had been performed. Moreover, all participants were followed for mortality and causes of deaths over a period of about 10 years. Finally, very detailed genetic investigations had been performed in all participants. The regulatory proteins shall also be measured in a further, smaller study. This study stands out by its very detailed characterization of lipid degradation paths. This project is about interdisciplinary and international cooperation. The main disciplines involved are Cardiology and Angiology. Laboratory Medicine also plays a crucial role for the realization of the project. Bioinformatics is an important discipline for the analysis of the results of the measurements. Foreign cooperation partners include the German Heart Center Munich of the Technical University Munich, the University of Heidelberg, the Harvard Medical School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Eli Lilly and Company. The aim of the project will be to investigate the regulation of blood lipids in detail, in particular with regard to the newly discovered proteins mentioned above. In addition, the effects of alterations in the concentrations of the regulatory proteins in the circulating blood on the risk cardiovascular diseases shall be investigated. Moreover, it shall also be investigated, whether genetic changes with implications on the regulation of blood lipids will also have result in differences of cardiovascular risk. Finally, the investigations are meant to find out, whether these regulatory proteins will be promising therapeutic targets to reduce cardiovascular risk.