title: HDL lipids and insulin resistance.
abstract: There is renewed interest in high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) due to recent findings linking atherosclerosis to the formation of dysfunctional HDL. This article focuses on the universe of HDL lipids and their potential protective or proinflammatory roles in vascular disease and insulin resistance. HDL carries a wide array of lipids including sterols, triglycerides, fat-soluble vitamins, and a large number of phospholipids, including phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, and ceramide with many biological functions. Ceramide has been implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and has many proinflammatory properties. In contrast, sphingosine-1-phosphate, which is transported mainly in HDL, has anti-inflammatory properties that may be atheroprotective and may account for some of the beneficial effects of HDL. However, the complexity of the HDL lipidome is only beginning to reveal itself. The emergence of new analytical technologies should rapidly increase our understanding of the function of HDL lipids and their role in disease states.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Mailstop 358055, 815 Mercer Street, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Hoofnagle
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vaisar
authors.forename: Poulami
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chait
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002518:Ceramides / Q000378:metabolism; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D008246:Lysophospholipids / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013109:Sphingomyelins / Q000378:metabolism; D013110:Sphingosine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002518:Ceramides; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008246:Lysophospholipids; D013109:Sphingomyelins; C060506:sphingosine 1-phosphate; D013110:Sphingosine