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Possible new strategy to reduce cholesterol


November 24, 2010


Dr. Xiaohui Zha and her group have discovered a potential new strategy to reduce the buildup of cholesterol in blood vessels. They found that a commercially available peptide called st-Ht31 changes the location of cholesterol processing machinery within certain cholesterol over-loaded blood vessel cells, and this causes the cells to release large amounts of cholesterol. While this research is still at early stages, it provides hope that new strategies may be found reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. See Journal of Biological Chemistry for details.

Dr. Zha is a Senior Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Chronic Disease Program) and an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa (Faculty of Medicine)