Cholesterol's Role In Reducing Cardiovascular Disease

One of the biggest concerns in healthcare today is cardiovascular disease. Affecting 36% of the US population alone, cardiovascular disease can lead to stroke, heart attack, and even death (22). Extensive research has been done investigating the causes of cardiovascular diseases. Lipids and lipoproteins have been implicated to be one of the largest factors contributing to cardiovascular disease. In order to reduce cardiovascular disease we must understand lipid metabolism. To understand lipid metabolism and its effects on the body we must first understand lipid structure itself.

Cholesterol is a naturally produced lipid that plays an important role in the body as it makes up many different structures including vitamin D, hormones, and compounds
Even though cholesterol has a polar head connected to a nonpolar body, it isn't soluble enough to dissolve in the blood stream and needs to be transported by lipoproteins. While cholesterol is being transported, it plays a major role within cell membranes. As cell membranes start to heat up the phospholipids dissociate and when cold, they pack together so tight that other compounds can not enter the cell. Cholesterol prevents these problems by connecting to the tails of the phospholipids and holding them in place(16,19).

Another type of lipid is triglycerides. Triglycerides are formed with a glycerol and three fatty acids, also known as the head and tail of the compound. The head of the compound is made up of 3 single carbon bonds where each carbon is bounded to an alcohol forming the glycerol. The fatty acids (tails) are a carboxylic acid, made up of a carbon double bonded to one oxygen with a single bond to an alcohol group (OH). Bonded to the carboxylic acid is a long chain of carbon to carbon bonds. In order for both glycerol and the three fatty acid chains to bind they must first lose
Lipoprotein has a sphere like a shape with an outer cell membrane made up of phospholipids. The main phospholipid that we'll be talking about is phosphoacylglycerol. Much like triglycerides, phosphoacylglycerol contains a glycerol and fatty acids chains. However, instead of having three fatty acid chains bound to a glycerol this phospholipid only has two fatty acid chains. In place of the third fatty acid chain, phospholipids will have a phosphate bound to an alcohol or carbon chain forming the head of the phospholipid. Phosphoacylglycerols head generally contains a phosphate saturated by oxygen with an amine or nitrogen attachment thus making the phospholipid polar head hydrophilic and the two tails nonpolar. When submerged in an aqueous solution, phospholipids form a lipid bilayer where the polar heads are arranged outward towards the solvent forming the outside and inside wall of a cell membrane. As for the nonpolar tails, they create a hydrophobic interior of the cell membrane held together by dispersion force