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Home  >  Medical Research Archives  >  Issue 149  > The importance of LDL-cholesterol and infection in the etiology of cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis of COVID-19 survivors and non-survivors
Published in the Medical Research Archives
May 2024 Issue

The importance of LDL-cholesterol and infection in the etiology of cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis of COVID-19 survivors and non-survivors

Published on May 26, 2024

DOI 

Abstract

 

Object: As cardiovascular mortality has increased during the COVID-19 epidemic, and as low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) participates in the immune system, we examined whether infection is a more serious risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) than elevated LDL-C.

Method: In a systematic search identifying cohort studies of COVID-19 patients we identified 21 studies including 25.647 patients with COVID-19 where LDL-cholesterol was compared with mortality.

Results: In 20 of the 21 cohorts where LDL-C was compared with mortality, LDL-C was lowest among the non-survivors and with statistical significance in 19 of the studies. LDL-C was highest among non-survivors in one cohort that included only 250 patients and the difference was not statistically significant. In three reviews, the authors found that severity of COVID-19 was also more prominent among patients with low LDL-C.

Conclusions: The results are in accordance with the hypothesis that LDL-C participates in the immune system by adhering to and inactivating almost all kinds of microorganisms and their toxic products. The results contradict the general view that low LDL-C protects against CVD. Obviously, infection is a more serious risk factor for CVD than high LDL-C. To verify this hypothesis, blood cultures should be performed in all patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and if positive, appropriate antibiotic therapy should be administered.

Author info

Uffe Ravnskov, Kilmer Mccully

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