Nutrition researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified five common genetic variations that increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of factors linked to heart disease and diabetes. Another variant they found appeared to protect against the condition.

Lower levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol due to a gene mutation is not associated with an increased risk of ischemic heart disease, according to a study in the June 4 issue of JAMA.

The gene for the HDL-associated protein paraoxonase 1 (PON1) appears to be associated with coronary artery disease and with the risk of developing adverse cardiac events, and variations in both the PON1 gene and its related enzyme activity may increase the risk for cardiovascular disease events, according to a study in the March 19 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on Genetics and Genomics.

When a study in her lab showed that mate tea drinkers had experienced a significant increase in the activity of an enzyme that promotes HDL (good) cholesterol while lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, University of Illinois scientist Elvira de Mejia headed for Argentina where mate tea has been grown and taken medicinally for centuries.

Good cholesterol, renowned for its ability to protect against heart disease, can undergo detrimental changes in protein composition that make it ‘bad’ for the heart, according to a new laboratory study by researchers in Seattle, Wash.

Researchers have found that one of the reasons people with low HDL - a molecule that helps eliminate excess cholesterol from arteries - are at risk of developing heart disease could be a defective version of a protein called ABCA1.

New discoveries offer promise for developing drugs that improve on the therapeutic profile of niacin, the inexpensive, time-tested B-vitamin that boosts levels of HDL cholesterol - the "good" cholesterol with the potential to protect people against heart attacks and stroke, scientists reported today.