Cholesterol helps bind toxin to cells: Research

A group of Indian researchers has showed that cholesterol helps toxins, secreted by a specific bacterium inside the body, which damage animal and human cells.

The researchers, with the help of special techniques, showed how toxins use the cholesterol present in the cell membrane to target cells to cause rapid damage.

In the research, published in the journal of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and supported by the department of science and technology (DST) and the department of biotechnology, the researchers showed how the toxins form pores in the cell and how they selectively the target cells. The study found that the cholesterol helps in binding the toxin to the cells.

The study raises a larger question of how harmful cholesterol is to human body and its cells. According to Dr Sunil Kapoor, cardiologist at Care Hospitals, a certain level of cholesterol is good for health. “Anything excess is bad for health, and it holds for cholesterol also,” he said.

Even low cholesterol can cause problems to health, such as impacting the functioning of the brain, the doctor said.

High cholesterol can hurt the functioning of kidneys, can cause heart attacks, and can even make a person blind, he said.

One of the benefits of cholesterol is that it helps in absorption of vitamins from the intestine, Dr Kapoor said. There are certain types of lipids that are harmful to health.

The study found that in many cases cholesterol helps in binding poreforming toxins to the cells, and in some cases helps the toxin protein in rupturing the cells. The researchers hope that the new study opens avenues in treating a range of diseases.The study included many scientists for the departments of biotechnology, chemical engineering, molecular reproduction development, and genetics from Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc).