title: Dusty punch cards and an eternal enigma: high-density lipoproteins and atherosclerosis.
abstract: Epidemiological, clinical, and experimental evidence has accumulated during the last decades suggesting that high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) may protect from atherosclerosis and its clinical consequences. However, more than 55 years after the first description of the link between HDL and heart attacks, many facets of the biochemistry, function, and clinical significance of HDL remain enigmatic. This applies particularly to the completely unexpected results that became available from some recent clinical trials of nicotinic acid and of inhibitors of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP). The concept that raising HDL cholesterol by pharmacological means would decrease the risk of vascular disease has therefore been challenged.
authors.affiliation: Medical Clinic V (Nephrology, Hypertensiology, Endocrinology, Diabetology, Rheumatology), Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcus E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Kleber
authors.forename: Tanja B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Grammer
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Kassner
authors.forename: Günther
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Silbernagel
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: März
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000517:prevention & control*; D053480:Cholesterol Ester Transfer Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood* / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood*; D009525:Niacin / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D053480:Cholesterol Ester Transfer Proteins; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D009525:Niacin