In a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine , researchers evaluate the efficacy of plazosiran treatment on fasting triglyceride levels in adult patients with mixed hyperlipidemia (MH). Study: Plozasiran, an RNA interference agent targeting APOC3, for mixed hyperlipidemia. Image Credit: peterschreiber.
media / Shutterstock.com MH is a condition in which unhealthy fats in the blood are raised in a specific pattern. People with MH are at a greater risk for atherosclerosis, during which plaques of fatty acids, cholesterol, and calcium accumulate within the arteries.
This can both increase blood pressure levels and prevent blood flow to the heart, thereby causing coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, or peripheral arterial disease. Lipoproteins in the blood carry fats in various directions. Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins include chylomicrons, chylomicron remnants, very-low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs), as well as VLDL remnants, such as intermediate-density lipoproteins (IDLs), all of which have up to four times higher cholesterol density than low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and are often associated with an increased risk of CHD.
Thus, triglyceride levels are a useful representative marker for these other lipoproteins. Like LDL cholesterol, remnant cholesterol from triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRL-cholesterol) contribute to plaque formation. Although current LDL cholesterol-lowering agents can successfully reduce the risk of CHD in MH, they do not reduce tri.
