Scientists managed to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood of mice by half. This technology can help humanity defeat atherosclerosis

In the USA, biologists and doctors from the University of Pennsylvania have developed a new type of therapy, which sharply reduces the level of cholesterol and other blood fats. The corresponding article was published in the journal Circulation, briefly retells the Science Daily.

Numerous studies conducted in recent years have shown that only a small part of the world's population practically does not suffer from health problems associated with the accumulation of cholesterol and other deposits on the walls of blood vessels. The reason for this, as scientists previously established, are mutations in the Angptl3 gene.

The Angptl3 gene controls the growth of blood vessels and the migrations of their cells, but in addition to this, it suppresses the work of enzymes that split cholesterol molecules and other fats, which is why they accumulate in the circulatory system.

In their work, scientists using the technology of modification of the CRISPR-CAS9 genome, which allows you to directionly change individual genes in the cells of the body, damaged the Angptl3 gene in laboratory mice, which are present in people who do not suffer from accumulation of people's cholesterol, thus blocked the suppression of the work of extensor of enzymes.

The results of the experiment showed that after two weeks, the level of cholesterol in the blood of mice, which was introduced by the mutated gene, decreased by 51–56%. This concerned both healthy mice and those that were originally born with hypercholesteroleletics (high cholesterol content).

At the next stage, a team of researchers intends to put experiments on mice with the introduction of a damaged Angptl3 gene in their body taken from a person. If the experiment is successful, the technology can be tested in public.

• Due to the deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels, a chronic disease of atherosclerosis develops. It, in turn, leads to various heart problems.
• According to WHO statistics, in developed countries from heart diseases caused by atherosclerosis, up to 15% of people die.