Tag Archives: HDL

Slinn Pickings

New way to kill lymphoma without chemotherapy

New way to kill lymphoma without chemotherapy - Scientists annihilated lymphoma by depriving it of a favorite food: HDL cholesterol. Northwestern researchers developed a new golden nanoparticle that's a replica of natural HDL. Acting like a secret double agent, the particle appears to the human lymphoma cell like natural HDL. But when the cell engages it, the particle plugs up the cell and blocks cholesterol from entering. The cell dies.

Slinn Pickings

HDL drug class struggling after latest flop

HDL drug class struggling after latest flop - The failure of Dalcetrapib, a drug designed to raise HDL, or 'good', cholesterol, has turned the spotlight again on such drugs. Dalcetrapib is a cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor - the first CETP inhibitor, Torcetrapib was a high-profile failure back in 2006, with trials stopped because the drug raised blood pressure. Dalcetrapib's failure was different - it simply didn't work. Two more CETP inhibitors are still in development, Anacetrapib and Evacetrapib. But is there still a future for CETP as a target? Reference: B F Voight et al, The Lancet, 2012, DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60312-2