Protein in “Good Cholesterol” Could Predict Heart Diseases

What makes HDL (high-density lipoprotein), the “good” cholesterol, good? Stanley Hazen, MD, PhD, of the Lerner Research Institute, may have found out. He and his team have discovered that the protein paraoxonase (PON1), which binds to HDL, promotes potent antioxidant activity in humans and is strongly linked to protection against cardiac and cerebrovascular events and death in subjects. The investigators also determined that measurement of PON1 activity serves as an important predictor of increased risk for major adverse cardiac events, even in subjects not otherwise identified as being in danger. This finding could help physicians to predict increased future potential for heart attack, stroke or death in people with no known coronary artery disease.