A REVISIT TO THE PLASMA CHOLESTEROL LEVELS IN NORMAL AND ABNORMAL CONDITIONS IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT CHOLESTEROL CONTROVERSY
Krishnajyoti Goswami*, Souvik Banerjee, Pratiti Banerjee and Asok Bandyopadhyay
ABSTRACT
Controversial reports claim that there is no link between plasma total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD); rather LDL-C helps in living longer. Denouncing statin therapy, it has been claimed that low plasma cholesterol could be indicative of worsening health condition. With this background, we analysed plasma cholesterol in a mixed middle-class population irrespective of their food habits at Kolkata, India and the mean value was found to be 190 mg/dl. The diabetic subjects without any complications, the diabetic nephropathy patients without any insulin resistance and the coronary artery disease patients with or without defective glucose levels showed the similar pattern of plasma cholesterol when compared with normal control. Diabetic retinopathy patients with insulin resistance only showed a significant higher level of plasma cholesterol. It has been suggested that insulin resistance could increase the plasma cholesterol level by influencing the mechanism by which the HMG CoA reductase system is modulated and controlled by insulin or and the free radical mechanism which is often associated with insulin resistance. It seems that cholesterol lowering drugs be avoided in normocholesterolemic subjects.
Keywords: Insulin resistance, diabetic retinopathy, plasma cholesterol, coronary artery disease.
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