American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 10, 269-276, Copyright © 1962 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Cholesterol and Atherosclerosis

¹ From the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

There appears to be an undeniable connection between cholesterol and atherosclerosis. The presence of this sterol in human atheromas, the fact that diseases which result in elevated cholesterol levels predispose to heart disease and the evidence that cholesterol feeding induces atherosclerosis in a variety of animals all point up this connection. However, the link between serum cholesterol levels and presence of coronary artery disease is largely statistical. No antemortem diagnosis is available. There are data that suggest that the -lipoprotein cholesterol may be more closely associated with heart disease than the total serum cholesterol. Many other aspects of lipid metabolism are being investigated, but for routine clinical surveys the serum cholesterol determination alone is readily available. In view of the many different methods used for serum cholesterol determination, investigators should be cognizant of the inter- and intramethod variations.