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0:00
I'd like to introduce myself.
I'm Arnold von Eckardstein,
and I have been invited
to give an overview
about lipoproteins
and my normal task is
to work at the University
Hospital of Zurich
and I'm a specialist in
laboratory medicine.
So I will also touch a bit
about the analysis
of lipoproteins in
the laboratory and my
research specialty
is lipoproteins and
atherosclerosis.
That's probably the
reason why I've been
asked to give this presentation.
0:33
The next slide shows
you the rationale
why I think it is important for
medical students or students
in biomedical sciences
to understand the
structure, function
and metabolism of lipoproteins.
The most important medical
reason is that lipoproteins,
especially APoB containing
lipoproteins like LDL,
are an important causal risk
factor in atherosclerosis.
You see here already the
arguments that I will bring
forward at the end of
my presentation again.
We know that high
LDL-cholesterol levels
increase the risk of
myocardial infarction.
We know from genetic studies
that genetic reasons of
high LDL-cholesterol also
increase the risk of
myocardial infarction,
and people who have genetically
determined low levels of
LDL-cholesterol have a low
level risk of atherosclerosis.
If we go for trials,
all drugs that lower
LDL-cholesterol or also
dietary interventions
that lower LDL-cholesterol
are shown to
reduce the risk of
myocardial infarction.
Finally, in animal experiments,
if you want to model
atherosclerosis,
it's not possible
to do this without
inducing hypercholesterolemia
in these animals.
It's very clear
LDL-cholesterol and
also other lipoproteins
are causal risk factors of
atherosclerosis and they are
treatable risk factors and
it's important to understand
the rationale behind that.
