title: Heparin-induced extracorporeal low-density lipoprotein precipitation.
abstract: Heparin-induced extracorporeal low-density lipoprotein (LDL) precipitation (HELP) is a selective and careful apheresis procedure. Through the application of heparin and lowering the pH value, lipoproteins and fibrinogen are reduced by 50-60%. In addition, adhesion molecules (ICAM-1, VCAM-1, p-selectin) which play a key role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis, are also markedly reduced. A PET scan performed 20 h after LDL apheresis shows the improvement of coronary vasodilation capacity. This is supposed to be mainly due to the marked reduction of LDL cholesterol and fibrinogen with consecutive improvement of endothelial dysfunction and rheology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, North Rhine-Westphalia Heart and Diabetes Center, University Hospital, Ruhr University Bochum, Bad Oeynhausen, Germany. kpmellwig@hdz-nrw.de
authors.forename: Klaus-Peter
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Mellwig
mesh_terms: D001781:Blood Component Removal / Q000379:methods; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006493:Heparin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008297:Male; D010956:Plasmapheresis / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D008077:Lipoproteins, LDL; D006493:Heparin