Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

High triglycerides drive life-threatening aortic aneurysms, study in mice finds (Also aortic dissections)
Medical Xpress / University of Michigan / Circulation ^ | Aug. 14, 2025 | Noah Fromson / Yaozhong Liu et al

Posted on 08/23/2025 9:17:23 PM PDT by ConservativeMind

High levels of triglycerides, the most common type of fat in the body and the foods we eat, directly cause abdominal aortic aneurysms, according to a study in mouse models.

Researchers identified triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and proteins that regulate triglyceride metabolism, including APOC3 and ANGPTL3, as causal drivers of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

The study challenges the longstanding belief that triglycerides are merely biomarkers of vascular disease and instead demonstrates that they play a direct role.

"We have known that hyperlipidemia is a risk factor for aortic aneurysm, but this multidimensional study pinpoints hypertriglyceridemia as an essential contributor to the development and growth, as well as dissection and rupture, of aortic aneurysms," said Eugene Chen, M.D., Ph.D.

"Our findings suggest that managing triglycerides could become a powerful therapeutic strategy."

Using three different mouse models of hypertriglyceridemia, the research team demonstrated a triglyceride dose-dependent effect on aneurysm severity.

Moderate elevations in triglycerides accelerated aneurysm formation, while higher levels led to aortic dissection.

Mice with severely elevated triglyceride concentrations developed more severe complications consistent with aortic rupture.

Further investigation revealed that elevated triglycerides and related fatty acids, particularly palmitate, impaired the maturation and activity of lysyl oxidase, a critical enzyme that maintains the structural integrity of the aortic wall.

This enzyme dysfunction weakened connective tissue and promoted aneurysm progression.

By overexpressing LOX in the aorta, researchers effectively blocked the damaging effects of hypertriglyceridemia in the mouse models, confirming the mechanism.

Standard lipid-lowering therapies, such as niacin, didn't sufficiently reduce triglyceride levels to a protective range.

However, investigators found success with experimental antisense oligonucleotide therapy. The drug candidate targets the ANGPTL3, which is secreted in the liver and affects how the body breaks down fats.

The treatment dramatically lowered triglyceride levels by up to 50% and prevented aneurysm formation and dissection in multiple mouse models.

(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: aneurysm; aorta; hemorrhoids; triglycerides; varicoseveins

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you.


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-43 next last
To: BobL

My doctor recommended adding coconut oil to my coffee in the morning. That helped to slightly raise my tris up to a more optimal level. They have me between 90-100 mg/dl as optimal. All of my other blood labs are ideal. High tris along with high LDLa is a sign. If your HDL and tris are high, you’re fine. It’s a balancing act for your blood levels.

Glucose also plays a massive role in your heart health, but it’s overlooked and often dismissed. If your glucose AND cortisol levels are low/normal AND your HDL and tris are high, you’re in an ideal state. The LDLa vs. LDLb conversation is starting to surface as a massive indicator as well. Might want to do some research into that if you’re interested.

Bottom line, and I’m hearing this from everyone from cardiac surgeons to primary card physicians, cholesterol is a lagging indicator of heart disease, NOT a leading indicator. Focus on reducing inflammation in your body which usually follows with healthy, stable glucose levels.


21 posted on 08/24/2025 7:01:14 AM PDT by rarestia (“A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.” -Hamilton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: MulberryDraw

Man, you are very fortunate to be alive, my surgeon told me i I had the same condition as John Ritter, the actor who played on the 70s TV show Three’s Company, Ritter had an undiagnosed bicuspid aortic valve and developed a 5.4cm aneurysm, he was rushed to the hospital with what was originally diagnosed as a heart attack, before they discovered it was an aortic dissection he died.

The hardest part of my recovery was the anxiety and stress, I was never in really bad pain, on day 2 in the hospital I was told I had gone into Stage 3 heart block which was permanent, the only solution was implanting a pacemaker, which on day 3 of recovery, I was wheeled into an operating room for the pacemaker.

Do you walk around now wondering if the slight discomfort you have in your chest has something to do with your heart. The wires using in holding my chest together sometimes bother me otherwise I’m in really good shape now.


22 posted on 08/24/2025 7:12:38 AM PDT by srmanuel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: rarestia

“My doctor recommended adding coconut oil to my coffee in the morning. That helped to slightly raise my tris up to a more optimal level. They have me between 90-100 mg/dl as optimal.”

To each their own. I tend to follow doctors who QUESTION what they were told in medical school, rather than just repeating it to me, and none of them have said there’s ever a reason to intentionally raise Triglycerides. As to your number, it’s considered good, and certainly not high...the only real question is whether lower is better.

But yeah, I’m up on the LDL story - never had my particle size tested, but given my Triglyceride/LDL ratio, I’m not worried about it, although just using the bulk LDL number for statin prescriptions certainly helps Big Drugs!


23 posted on 08/24/2025 7:19:21 AM PDT by BobL
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: MulberryDraw
“I had an aortic dissection.”

Same here.

I was with a group of guys on an outing, and felt a sharp pain run down my back, then go away.

I said I would lie down for awhile, but my buddies insisted I go to the hospital.

After a scan I was airlifted and underwent emergency surgery.

They told me that without the surgery within 24 hours there’s a 75% mortality rate, so you are, indeed, very lucky to still be here.

You’re right - it really knocks you for a loop.

Ten years after my emergency surgery, they advised I undergo a second one to tie up loose ends. That hit me even harder than the first one.

I told the surgeon that there absolutely would never be a third one.

And, like you, I’m often told how lucky I am to be alive.

24 posted on 08/24/2025 7:24:51 AM PDT by daler
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Skywise
I think you are missing what happens with plaque formation.

The first step is a structural compromise of the endothelial layer of the vasculature that protects the entire structure behind it. The endothelial layer is the teflon-like layer that faces our blood. This then allows the soft plaque formation that then later forms a hard plaque facing the bloodstream.

Yes, that location becomes narrowed if it went toward plaque formation, but this describes yet another handy option for destruction—it seemingly allows more protein in place of primarily Type 1, but some Type 3, collagen. I say this not from having read the study, but from understanding what happens with varicose veins and their immediate siblings, hemorrhoids. Those tissues are similarly expanded.

Compromise of the endothelial layer is the terrible first step, it seems.

25 posted on 08/24/2025 7:25:02 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: BobL

Not that it makes much of a difference, but I use Ways2Well for my blood testing and guidance now. I haven’t seen an actual physician since COVID. I don’t trust the medical establishment anymore, and I don’t recommend anybody do the same with the notable exception of emergency medicine.

My triglycerides were in the 40s when I started, and they classified that as below optimal. I also thought lower was better. When I started researching, I found out why, esp. around brain health. I’m now comfortably in the 90s and feel great.


26 posted on 08/24/2025 8:08:45 AM PDT by rarestia (“A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one.” -Hamilton)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

bookmark


27 posted on 08/24/2025 8:52:34 AM PDT by Myrddin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rarestia

“My triglycerides were in the 40s when I started, and they classified that as below optimal. I also thought lower was better. When I started researching, I found out why, esp. around brain health. I’m now comfortably in the 90s and feel great.”

That’s cool, to each our own, I’m happy in my upper 40s. The KEY THING is that we agree that just looking at bulk LDL is BS, even though 90% of doctors swear by it.


28 posted on 08/24/2025 9:22:22 AM PDT by BobL
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: rarestia

(side bar comment)

(We moved into a house that had an old white stove. The burners were burnt and caked with built up, old, black grease. Nothing took it off even though the stove was clean.

(I started using coconut oil as we dove into keto and after just a few weeks the black burnt stuff came right off that stovetop. It convinced me it had to be doing the same thing in the body.

(When you use any oil and heat it or leave it out, notice if it gets sticky or gluey. Most oils do. Coconut oil does not.

(Translate that to what oils are doing in your body.

(Add carbs into the mix and I believe you get plaque

(I use coconut oil in my homemade toothpaste, too. The hygenist I saw for teeth cleaning was amazed that after 25 years of no dental appointments or cleaning I had very littel plaque on my teeth.

(FWIW

)


29 posted on 08/24/2025 9:48:12 AM PDT by CaptainPhilFan (Donald J Trump: OF the People FOR the People WITH the People)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: CaptainPhilFan

Supplements I use to hopefully keep cholesterol balanced, control blood sugar, and plaque cleared include:

Magnesium Orotate taken with Super K -
Super K – K1, K2 M4, K2 M7

Policosonal

Nattokinase

Hawthorne

Berberine

Bitter melon


30 posted on 08/24/2025 9:55:11 AM PDT by CaptainPhilFan (Donald J Trump: OF the People FOR the People WITH the People)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: CaptainPhilFan

Mark for researching.
Thanks FRiend.


31 posted on 08/24/2025 10:12:51 AM PDT by thesearethetimes... (Had I brought Christ with me, the outcome would have been different. Dr.Eric Cunningham)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind
I have an abdominal aortic aneurysm. It is present next to the celiac artery. The vascular surgeon said it is so complex to fix that I would have a very small probability of getting off the operating table alive.

My former boss lost his brother to an aortic aneurysm. When his brother failed to answer a phone call, my boss went to his home. The TV was on. His brother was seated on the couch holding a popsicle stick. What remained of the popsicle had melted down his arm. He had been dead for a while. When an aneurysm pops, you have about 10 seconds of consciousness remaining...if you notice at all.

I bookmarked this thread and will seek to leverage the info. I have two competing items seeking to unalive me. One is the aneurysm. The other is recurrence of the ampullary cancer if there was any undetected metastasis.

32 posted on 08/24/2025 10:13:29 AM PDT by Myrddin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: srmanuel
I learned that what makes aneurysms so dangerous is the person experiencing the aneurysm suffers no symptoms prior to a dissection or rupture and that aneurysms usually are found as a result of looking for something else.

Precisely my case. I had lots of CT scans after my Whipple procedure. Enough views to show the aortic aneurysm. I was somewhat surprised when I had a referral to a vascular surgeon as follow-up to CT scans looking for problems in my liver and pancreas.

33 posted on 08/24/2025 10:17:29 AM PDT by Myrddin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Skywise
Aneurysms are a ballooning of the arterial walls (a weakness in the hose if you will). So this study says they’re simultaneously causing the clogging AND the ballooning of the arteries? Ehhhh... Maybe because the clogging causes HBP but that still doesn’t completely jive...

I have an aortic aneurysm and low blood pressure. I typically run 105/53. It has been an issue most of my life. I stand up slowly to avoid getting dizzy or falling.

34 posted on 08/24/2025 10:19:38 AM PDT by Myrddin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Myrddin

Get those triglycerides down.

Personally, I would do the following:

Start taking Type 1 collagen peptides. Prefer Verisol powder, which is tested for skin. Costco has an online sale on the one we use until 8/30:

trunature Verisol Collagen Powder 2,500 mg., 10.58 Ounces

It is an excellent buy.

Additionally, try Doctors Best Vein Support, which has Hesperidin and Diosmin in it.

Supplements that can help with repairing the endothelial layer include Arterosil and Endocalyx Pro.

We actually take these supplements every day, minus the Arterosil, which we did for a year, then moved to Endocalyx Pro. They are different items that both help.


35 posted on 08/24/2025 10:28:33 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Myrddin
You may also find this useful:

Palmitic Acid: Physiological Role, Metabolism and Nutritional Implications

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5682332/

The last half of the abstract hangs palmitic acid problems on too many calories from carbs and high palmitic acid fats vs. Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats in the diet.

36 posted on 08/24/2025 10:39:59 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind
Thanks for the recommendations. Costco is 1/2 mile from my house, so a visit is pretty easy.
37 posted on 08/24/2025 10:47:57 AM PDT by Myrddin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Myrddin

That collagen is online order only.


38 posted on 08/24/2025 10:49:13 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Myrddin

This is also interesting on the likely cause, not getting enough oleic acid vs palmitic acid in the diet:

Dietary intake of palmitate and oleate has broad impact on systemic and tissue lipid profiles in humans

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3927687/


39 posted on 08/24/2025 11:06:51 AM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Myrddin

Aortic aneurysms are nothing to play with, they don’t cure themselves and there is no drug or treatment that I know of that can help, the only option is surgery.


40 posted on 08/24/2025 11:20:11 AM PDT by srmanuel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-43 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson