A March 2024 study by the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden on how immune cells in the liver react to high cholesterol levels and eat up excess cholesterol that can otherwise cause damage to arteries, said,
“Essentially, we wanted to detonate a cholesterol bomb and see what happened next,”
“We found that the liver responded almost immediately and removed some of the excess cholesterol.”
“We were surprised to see that the liver seems to be the first line of defence against excess cholesterol and that the Kupffer cells were the ones doing the job,”
“This shows that the liver immune system is an active player in regulating cholesterol levels, and suggests that atherosclerosis is a systemic disease that affects multiple organs and not just the arteries.”
“Our next step is to look at how other organs respond to excess cholesterol, and how they interact with the liver and the blood vessels in atherosclerosis,”
“This could help us develop more holistic and effective strategies to combat this common and deadly disease.”