CP-532623, a close structural analog of Torcetrapib, is a CETP inhibitor with highly lipophilic properties. It elevates high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Hyodeoxycholic acid sodium salt is a natural secondary bile acid. It improves high-density lipoprotein function, reduces farnesoid X receptor antagonist bile acids, and induces strong cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and IL-8 synthesis.
AcylCoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT) is an intracellular cholesteryl ester synthase tied closely to the absorption of dietary cholesterol. Oleic acid-2,6-diisopropylanilide is an inhibitor of acylCoA:cholesterol acyltransferase with an IC50 of 7 nM. When co-administered to rabbits or rats fed a high fat, high cholesterol diet, oleic acid-2,6-diisopropylanilide decreased low density lipoproteins and elevated highdensity lipoprotein levels when administered at 0.05%.
Pinolenic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid found in Korean pine (Pinus orientalis) and maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) seed oils. Both oils have been found to have lipid-lowering properties. A diet containing maritime pine seed oil (MPSO) lowered high-density lipoprotein and ApoA1 levels in transgenic mice expressing human ApoA1. MPSO was found to diminish cholesterol efflux in vitro. Korean pine seed oil supplements may help in obesity by reduction of appetite. People taking this oil had an increase in the satiety hormones CCK and GLP-1 and a reduced desire to eat. The activity of the oil is attributed to pinolenic acid. Pinolenic acid is not converted to arachidonic acid metabolically and can reduce arachidonic acid levels in the phosphatidylinositol fraction of HepG2 cells from 15.9% to 7.0%. Pinolenic acid ethyl ester is a neutral, more lipophilic form of the free acid.
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) α, δ, γ are ligand-activated nuclear transcription factors involved in the regulation of energy homeostasis as well as insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism. Pharmacologies of PPARδ receptor agonists, though relatively obscure, have recently been reported to elevate high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and lower plasma triglyceride (TG) levels in obese insulin resistant rhesus monkeys. CAY10592 is a full PPARδ agonist (EC50 = 30 nM) in a fatty acid oxidation assay of rat L6 muscle cells with desirable oral pharmacokinetic properties. In a transactivation assay using human PPAR receptors, CAY10592 acts as a selective partial PPARδ agonist (EC50 = 53 nM) with no effect on PPARα or PPARγ activity up to 30 μM. Chronic treatment of high fat fed ApoB100/CETP-transgenic mice with CAY10592 at a dose of 20 mg/kg increases HDL levels, decreases LDL and TG levels, and improves insulin sensitivity.
The early stage of atherosclerosis is characterized by the aggregation of foam cells, so called a fatty streak, in the inner arterial wall. CAY10487 inhibits formation of fatty streak lesions of the thoracic aorta in high cholesterol-fed rabbits without affecting plasma lipid profiles or significantly inhibiting ACAT-1 or ACAT-2 activity. The percent area occupied by the atherosclerotic lesion in rabbits supplemented with 0.05% CAY10487 in the diet was 16.1% compared to 53.5% in control rabbits. CAY10487 also exhibits antioxidant activity, inhibiting copper-mediated oxidation of low-density lipoprotein by about 75% at a concentration of 2 μM.
5(Z),11(Z),14(Z)-Eicosatrienoic acid is a polyunsaturated fatty acid found in various natural sources including maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) seed oil (MPSO), gymnospermae leaves and seeds, and freshwater gastropods. A diet containing MPSO lowered high-density lipoprotein and ApoA1 levels in transgenic mice expressing human ApoA1. MPSO was found to diminish cholesterol efflux in vitro. 5(Z),11(Z),14(Z)-Eicosatrienoic acid methyl ester, when topically applied, reduces inflammatory processes, potentially by displacing arachidonic acid from phospholipid pools and reducing downstream inflammatory products such as prostaglandin E2 and leukotrienes.
Bile acids are essential for solubilization and transport of dietary lipids, are the major products of cholesterol catabolism, and are physiological ligands for farnesoid X receptor (FXR), a nuclear receptor that regulates genes involved in lipid metabolism.1They are also inherently cytotoxic, as physiological imbalance contributes to increased oxidative stress.2,3Bile acid-controlled signaling pathways are promising novel targets to treat such metabolic diseases as obesity, type II diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and atherosclerosis.Guggulsterone, derived from resin of the guggul tree, is a competitive antagonist of FXR bothin vitroandin vivo.4Thecisstereoisomer of guggulsterone, (E)-guggulsterone, decreases chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA)-induced FXR activation with an IC50value of 15 μM.5,6By inhibiting CDCA-induced transactivation of FXR, guggulsterone lowers low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels in rodents fed a high cholesterol diet.4 1.Makishima, M., Okamoto, A.Y., Repa, J.J., et al.Identification of a nuclear receptor for bile acidsScience2841362-1365(1999) 2.Barbier, O., Torra, I.P., Sirvent, A., et al.FXR induces the UGT2B4 enzyme in hepatocytes: A potential mechanism of negative feedback control of FXR activityGastroenterology1241926-1940(2003) 3.Tan, K.P., Yang, M., and Ito, S.Activation of nuclear factor (erythroid-2 like) factor 2 by toxic bile acids provokes adaptive defense responses to enhance cell survival at the emergence of oxidative stressMol. Pharmacol.72(5)1380-1390(2007) 4.Urizar, N.L., Liverman, A.B., Dodds, D.T., et al.A natural product that lowers cholesterol as an anatagonist ligand for FXRScience296(5573)1703-1706(2002) 5.Cui, J., Huang, L., Zhao, A., et al.Guggulsterone is a farnesoid X receptor antagonist in coactivator association assays but acts to enhance transcription of bile salt export pumpThe Journal of Biological Chemisty278(12)10214-10220(2003) 6.Wu, J., Xia, C., Meier, J., et al.The hypolipidemic natural product guggulsterone acts as an antagonist of the bile acid receptorMolecular Endocrinology16(7)1590-1597(2002)
Palmitoleic acid is a common constituent of the triglycerides of human adipose tissue. Palmitoleic acid-based diets raise low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and diminish high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, even when dietary intake of cholesterol is maintained at a low level. Palmitelaidic acid is the trans isomer of the 16:1 fatty acid palmitoleic acid. While its effects on cholesterol levels are poorly studied, palmitelaidic acid can have very different effects from those of palmitoleic acid on lipid metabolism and mobilization. Palmitelaidic acid methyl ester is an ester version of the free acid which may be more amenable for the formulation of fatty acid-containing diets and dietary supplements.
MK-8262, an orally active and potent cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor (IC 50 = 53 nM, log D = 5.3), is a bistrifluoromethyl analogue that shows promise in research related to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) with potential implications for coronary heart disease (CHD).