LDL as a therapeutic objective

Prognostic Role of Fasting Remnant Cholesterol with In-Stent Restenosis After Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation

Objective

In-stent restenosis (ISR) is regarded as a critical limiting factor in stenting for coronary heart disease (CHD). Recent research has shown that fasting residual cholesterol (RC) has been shown to have a substantial impact on coronary heart disease. Unfortunately, there have not been much data to bear out the relationship between RC and ISR. Then, the predictive value of RC for in-stent restenosis in patients with coronary heart disease was analyzed.

Patients and Methods

Aiming to explore the relationship between RC and ISR, we designed a retrospective study of patients with CHD after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation, combining the data from a public database and selecting the best-fitting model by comparing the optical subset with least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression.

Results

Analysis of the abovementioned two models showed that the optical subset optimal subset model, which was based on RC, creatine, history of diabetes, smoking, multi-vessel lesions (2 vessels or more lesions), peripheral vascular lesions (PAD), and blood uric acid, had a better fit (AUC = 0.68), and that RC was an independent risk factor for ISR in the abovementioned two models. Notwithstanding its limitation, this study does suggest that RC has good predictive value for ISR.

Conclusion

Remnant cholesterol is an independent risk factor for in-stent restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and is a reliable predictor of ISR.

Possible mechanisms of cholesterol elevation aggravating COVID-19

Importance: Despite the availability of a vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), humans will have to live with this virus and the after-effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection for a long time. Cholesterol plays an important role in the infection and prognosis of SARS-CoV-2, and the study of its mechanism is of great significance not only for the treatment of COVID-19 but also for research on generic antiviral drugs. Observations: Cholesterol promotes the development of atherosclerosis by activating NLR family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3), and the resulting inflammatory environment indirectly contributes to COVID-19 infection and subsequent deterioration. In in vitro studies, membrane cholesterol increased the number of viral entry sites on the host cell membrane and the number of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors in the membrane fusion site. Previous studies have shown that the fusion protein of the virus interacts with cholesterol, and the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 also requires cholesterol to enter the host cells. Cholesterol in blood interacts with the spike protein to promote the entry of spike cells, wherein the scavenger receptor class B type 1 (SR-B1) plays an important role. Because of the cardiovascular protective effects of lipid-lowering therapy and the additional anti-inflammatory effects of lipid-lowering drugs, it is currently recommended to continue lipid-lowering therapy for patients with COVID-19, but the safety of extremely low LDL-C is questionable. Conclusions and Relevance: Cholesterol can indirectly increase the susceptibility of patients to SARS-CoV-2 and increase the risk of death from COVID-19, which are mediated by NLRP3 and atherosclerotic plaques, respectively. Cholesterol present in the host cell membrane, virus, and blood may also directly participate in the virus cell entry process, but the specific mechanism still needs further study. Patients with COVID-19 are recommended to continue lipid-lowering therapy.