Researchers in Israel have identified an antioxidant that can lower cholesterol levels as well as eliminating free radicals. This compound could be a promising alternative to statins, the most prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs in the world.
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High cholesterol and excess free radicals in the body are major risk factors for developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Healthy lifestyle and low cholesterol intake certainly help prevent CVD, but people still often fail to maintain the levels of cholesterol required.
Most cholesterol in the body does not come from food, but is produced internally. Statins reduce cholesterol levels by acting as competitive inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase, an enzyme that catalyses cholesterol biosynthesis. Yet, some people do not respond to statins.
Now, Adi Haber, Zeev Gross and colleagues at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, have proposed a new alternative to statins.
Read the full article in Chemistry World»
Read the original journal article in ChemComm:
Allosteric inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase, the key enzyme involved in cholesterol biosynthesis
Adi Haber, Amona Abu-Younis Ali, Michael Aviram and Zeev Gross
Chem. Commun., 2013, Advance Article, DOI: 10.1039/C3CC44740E
