Drugs that lower cholesterol, which are taken by millions of people, may sometimes not work effectively, claim scientists.
Statins reduce levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad” form of cholesterol linked to heart disease. But up to 40 per cent of those taking them are resistant to their effects.
The reason may be a fat-generated protein called resistin, scientists believe. It causes high levels of LDL and also counteracts the beneficial effects of statins.
Lead researcher Dr Shirya Rashid, from McMaster University in Canada, said: “The bigger implication of our results is that high blood resistin levels may be the cause of the inability of statins to lower patients’ LDL cholesterol levels.”
The discovery of resistin’s role in raising cholesterol could lead to new therapeutic drugs that target the protein, she believes. Dr Rashid’s team showed that resistin increases the production of LDL in human liver cells, and reduced the liver’s ability to clear “bad” cholesterol out of the body.