Triglyceride-Rich Lipoproteins and Plasma Lipid Transport

Abstract

This memoir provides a history of the triglyceride-rich lipoproteins of blood plasma over the last half-century. As precursors of low-density lipoproteins and in their own right, triglyceride-rich lipoproteins are essential to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques and to consequent ischemic vascular disease. The author recounts research at the National Heart Institute during 1953 to 1956 and continuing thereafter at the University of California San Francisco. Emphasis is placed on key insights arising from investigations of human disease, the interplay of fatty acid and triglyceride-transport involving the liver, small intestine, adipose tissue and muscle, and the role of the liver in the synthesis and catabolism of atherogenic lipoproteins.