LDL, THE DEADLY LIPOPROTEIN

LDL, the deadly lipoprotein

LDL is the chief cholesterol carrier in the blood, ferrying approximately 70 percent of all the blood cholesterol around the network of arteries. Basically, this lipoprotein is loaded with cholesterol. Unlike HDL, LDL is not directly manufactured in the liver. Instead, a different type of lipoprotein is first produced by the liver, the parent lipoprotein called VLDL. After circulating around the bloodstream, VLDL loses much of its fat (triglyceride) cache to various bodily cells to become LDL. LDL is designed to take cholesterol to cells that have run short, as cells require some cholesterol to maintain proper functioning. Typically, the LDL is taken into the cell and broken down, and then the cholesterol is used to make membranes or hormones. However, when the amount of LDL in the blood gets too high, the situation can become injurious.