Cholesterol, in general, would be bad especially if the levels are high. In particular, a high LDL cholesterol level would be bad for the health. Now LDL cholesterol has a new way to lower it.
Researchers are looking into the receptor REV-ERB. The receptor is important for cholesterol metabolism. Having medicine and treatment targeting the receptor could lead to lowering LDL cholesterol more effectively.
REV-ERB is a protein receptor that also has many roles. Thomas Burris, Ph.D. is the chair of Pharmacology and Physiology at Saint Louis University and has been studying REV-ERB. Burris and his team are now looking at REV-ERB and what its role is in cholesterol metabolism.
Plaque builds in the arteries as a result of an imbalance in cholesterol metabolism. Statins have been used to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease. However, statins don't work for all people. Some people also experience side effects when using statins.
Studying how REV-ERB works could lead to new treatments that could lower cholesterol. People who are using statins but are not finding them effective would need new treatments that would be more suitable for them. It has been shown in previous studies that a lack in REV-ERB could lead to an increase in LDL levels and an overall increase as well in cholesterol levels, according to the Saint Louis University's site.
A synthetic version of REV-ERB has been used by Burris in a previous study. This synthetic version is called SR9009. The use of SR9009 has shown that it can reduce triglyceride as well as plasma cholesterol levels, as Science Daily reports.
REV-ERB has been found to suppress enzymes that are related to cholesterol. The suppression of these enzymes has been effective in reducing cholesterol levels overall. With this result, it shows that there is need to create medicine that can target REV-ERB in order to lower LDL cholesterol. Now LDL cholesterol has a new way to lower it. A study has looked into the rationale of using e-cigarettes.
