HDL, Atherosclerosis, and Emerging Therapies

Table 2

Controversies surrounding the “HDL hypothesis.”

HDL and atherosclerosis: pro	The “HDL hypothesis” questioned
Strong biological plausibility for HDL as a therapeutic target	Mendelian Randomization does not support HDL-cholesterol as a causal risk factor
The epidemiological association between HDL-C and CVD is strong and coherent	HDL-C loses its predictive value if LDL-C is low
Animal data is unequivocal: HDL protects against atherosclerosis	The clinical trial data with drugs that raise HDL-C (fibrates, niacin, torcetrapib, and dalcetrapib) is neutral