Plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) facilitates the transfer of cholesteryl ester (CE) from high density lipoprotein (HDL) to apolipoprotein

No abstract

Apolipoprotein (apo) J, clusterin, is ubiquitously expressed in many tissues, and is a component of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs).There is experimental evidence that it may be anti-atherogenic through its effects on cholesterol transport, smooth muscle cell proliferation and lipid peroxidation. HDLs containing apo J and apo A-carry paraoxonase (PON1), which protects low-density lipoproteins from oxidative modification; however, the extent to which apo J affects coronary heart disease (CHD) is not known. We have developed a sandwich ELISA that enables apo J to be assayed in the range of 13-200 g/mL. Serum apo J was 52.8 0.8 g/mL (mean SEM; range, 36.0-84.3 g/mL; n 92) in healthy Japanese men, and 49.3 0.5 g/mL (34.5-72.8; n 241) in healthy Japanese women. Multiple regression of these data and results from 67 men with CHD showed that apo J concentration was unrelated to age, sex or body mass index, but was positively related to serum PON1 (p 0.001) and apo B (p 0.02) concentrations. In women, it was also positively related to blood glucose (p 0.02). After adjusting for its associations with covariates, serum apo J averaged 5.4 g/mL, lower in CHD men than in controls (p 0.003). Type 2 diabetics had higher apo J concentrations (men, 83.1 3.4 g/mL, n 64; women, 64.0 2.3 g/mL, n 46) than healthy men and women (p 0.001). In these Type 2 diabetics, apo J concentration was unrelated to PON1 concentration, but was positively related to blood glucose (p 0.01). After adjustment for its relation to blood glucose, the mean apo J concentration was similar in diabetics and healthy subjects. These findings suggest that apo J may be anti-atherogenic in humans, and that its concentration is raised by Type 2 diabetes. J Atheroscler Thromb, 2006; 13:314-322.

Whey protein solutions at pH 3.5 elicited an astringent taste sensation. The astringency of whey protein isolate (WPI), the process whey protein (PWP) that was prepared by heating WPI at pH 7.0, and the process whey protein prepared at pH 3.5 (aPWP) were adjusted to pH 3.5 and evaluated by 2 sensory analyses (the threshold method and the scalar scoring method) and an instrumental analysis (taste sensor method). The taste-stimulating effects of bovine and porcine gelatin were also evaluated. The threshold value of astringency of WPI, PWP, and aPWP was 1.5, 1.0, and 0.7 mg/mL, respectively, whereas the gelatins did not give definite astringency. It was confirmed by the scalar scoring method that the astringency of these proteins increased with the increase in protein concentration, and these proteins elicited strong astringency at 10 mg/mL under acidic conditions. On the other hand, the astringency was not elicited at pH 3.5 by 2 types of gelatin. A taste sensor gave specific values for whey proteins at pH 3.5, which corresponded well to those obtained by the sensory analysis. Elicitation of astringency induced by whey protein under acidic conditions would be caused by aggregation and precipitation of protein molecules in the mouth.

SNPs in the promoter region of OPN may be useful as a marker to predict the efficacy of IFN-based therapies in patients with chronic hepatitis C, and further investigation regarding their real significance is warranted in a large series of patients.