Running interference on cholesterol
Injected RNA molecule lowers LDL in rats and monkeys
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 An unorthodox way to lower “bad” cholesterol by suppressing a liver protein may soon challenge statins for the cholesterol-drug crown.
Suppressing the protein’s activity in rats and macaque monkeys lowered the animals’ bad cholesterol by 50 to 70 percent, researchers report online and in an upcoming Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“This is the first study to show that you can acutely lower … cholesterol levels in several animal species” using a process called RNA interference, says study coauthor Kevin Fitzgerald, director of research at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Mass.