Known to be a type of fat in the blood, triglyceride when elevates is called as hyper – triglyceridemia. For long hyper – triglyceridemia has been seemingly associated with coronary artery disease. A latest research suggests that injecting a protein that breaks down triglycerides can aid in treating an inherited form of high triglycerides.
In order to test a novel compound, researchers genetically altered mice to be deficient in the apolipoprotein (apo)A-V protein. This protein possibly results in high blood levels of triglycerides. The active compound seemingly consists of apoA-V complexed with phospholipid that forms a reconstituted high density lipoprotein (HDL). Conclusions were drawn after administering the compound intravenously in mice.
The enzyme lipoprotein lipase is apparently essential in breaking down triglycerides. If the experts are to be believed then, ApoA-V enhances the ability of lipoprotein lipase. It was been ascertained that injecting apoA-V into such mice can result in lower levels of triglyceride. So, deficiency of this protein probably triggers heightened levels of triglyceride. On completion of the research, triglycerides deduction of almost 87 percent appeared.
Trudy Forte, Ph.D., lead investigator and a scientist at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California and colleagues claim that in engineered mice without the GPIHBP1 protein apoA-V injection failed to decrease levels. It is known that GPIHBP1 results in very high triglyceride levels. Scientists predict that intravenous apA-V can be of therapeutic benefit to humans with severely increased triglycerides due to genetic changes affecting levels of apoA-V.
The research is published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, an American Heart Association journal.