Atherothrombosis Research Unit, The Zena and Michael A. Wiener Cardiovascular Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave Levy Place, Box 1030, New York, NY 10029, USA.
Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2011 Jun;13(3):266-76. doi: 10.1007/s11883-011-0177-0.
Reduction of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by statin therapy has only modestly decreased coronary heart disease (CHD)-associated mortality in developed countries, which has prompted the search for alternative therapeutic strategies for CHD. Epidemiologic and interventional studies have clearly established an inverse association between plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and incidence of atherosclerosis. The atheroprotective benefits of HDL are not only dependent on HDL concentrations (quantity), but also on HDL function (quality). Therefore, several techniques have been recently developed to assess the different properties of HDL. Because reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) is considered a key player in the beneficial action of HDL, this review focuses on the different methods used to evaluate cholesterol efflux. Measuring the in vivo function of HDL could be of significant importance for both the clinical evaluation of an individual patient and to evaluate the effectiveness of different RCT-enhancing therapeutic approaches.
他汀类药物降低低密度脂蛋白胆固醇仅能适度降低发达国家的冠心病（CHD）相关死亡率，这促使人们寻求冠心病的替代治疗策略。流行病学和干预研究清楚地确立了血浆高密度脂蛋白（HDL）胆固醇水平与动脉粥样硬化发生率之间的反比关系。HDL 的抗动脉粥样硬化益处不仅取决于 HDL 浓度（量），还取决于 HDL 功能（质）。因此，最近开发了几种技术来评估 HDL 的不同特性。由于胆固醇逆转运（RCT）被认为是 HDL 有益作用的关键因素，因此本篇综述重点介绍了评估胆固醇外排的不同方法。测量 HDL 的体内功能对于个体患者的临床评估以及评估不同增强 RCT 的治疗方法的有效性都可能具有重要意义。
