Air Pollution and High Cholesterol Don't Mix: From "Sham vs. Wham: The Health Insider"

Full text article extracted from http://shamvswham.blogspot.com/

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Headline: Air Pollution Often the Culprit in Cardiovascular Disease

A new scientific study, published in the July 26th edition of the
online journal "Genome Biology", shows how fine particles in air
pollution conspire with artery-clogging fats to switch on the genes
that cause blood vessel inflammation and that lead to cardiovascular
disease. This UCLA team links diesel exhaust to hardening of the
arteries, which significantly increases one's risk for heart attack
and stroke. If you are one of the millions with high cholesterol, you
might want to stay away from air pollution.

There's a hidden synergy behind these diesel exhaust particles and
artery-clogging fats; together, they have a much larger effect than
individually when they switch on the genes that cause blood vessel
inflammation and eventually cardiovascular disease. The combination
wreaks cardiovascular havoc far beyond what's caused by the diesel or
cholesterol alone.

The researchers set up a scenario to investigate the interaction
between diesel exhaust particles and the fatty acids found in low-
density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol - the "bad" type of cholesterol
that leads to artery blockage.

"Diesel particles are coated in chemicals containing free radicals,
and the fatty acids in LDL cholesterol generate free radicals during
metabolism in the cells," said first author Ke Wei Gong, a UCLA
cardiology researcher. "We wanted to measure what happens when these
two sources of oxidation come into contact."

The scientists combined the pollutants and oxidized fats and cultured
them with cells from the inner lining of human blood vessels. A few
hours later, the team extracted DNA from the cells for genetic
analysis. They saw that the diesel particles and oxidized fats had
worked in tandem to activate the genes that promote cellular
inflammation - a major risk factor for atherosclerosis. It is vascular
inflammation that leads to cholesterol deposits and clogged arteries,
which can give rise to blood clots that trigger heart attack or
stroke.

For anyone experiencing high cholesterol, getting out of traffic and
into the country would be a very, very healthy idea. Although it
wasn't mentioned in the article, their research seems to suggest that
anti-oxidants in supplement form would be beneficial.

Another research report on the same topic, this one from Germany and
published in the journal "Circulation" is linked at Sham vs. Wham: The
Health Insider.

Dave

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