Scientists have shown that a protein called transthyretin (TTR) that is present in the blood may accelerate the development of atherosclerosis – a potentially fatal heart disease in which the arteries are progressively narrowed and hardened over time, reducing blood flow to the heart.

Studies in female monkeys helped raise important questions about hormone therapy that were addressed in a Women’s Health Initiative study reported last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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.

Scientists have shown that a build-up of cholesterol in cell organelles called lysosomes is related to a higher incidence of heart disease.