Cholesterol’s Unique Chemistry: How it Reduces Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Powers Brain Function

Cholesterol is a sterol, specifically a zoosterol found in animals, with the formula C17H28O. Its role in fungi is similar to ergosterol.

Drugs known as statins are used to lower cholesterol levels in the blood to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. These drugs act on a pathway that constitutes the first 18 steps of the 37-step process the human body uses to make cholesterol.

Under the influence of ultraviolet light, the body converts cholesterol into calcitriol, an active form of vitamin D made in the kidneys.

The human body has a mechanism to recycle cholesterol, starting with its excretion from the liver and eventual reabsorption into the bloodstream in the small intestine. In fact, it’s important to note that our bodies are able to recycle around 90% of our dietary cholesterol and only need additional cholesterol from our diet if we eat it.

Cholesterol in the brain is made and transported by cells called astrocytes because it can’t cross the blood-brain barrier. Joseph Goldstein, an American biochemist, helped discover the role cholesterol plays in causing heart disease and shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1985 for this work.