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Silencing the Messenger: Potential New Treatment for High Lp(a) Cholesterol on the Horizon
You might have heard of lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), a type of cholesterol that can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease. Unlike other types of cholesterol, your Lp(a) levels are mostly determined by your genes (passed down from your parents), and not influenced much by age, sex, diet, or exercise.1
About 1 in 5 people have high Lp(a), but it is not often tested for. Insurance companies are rarely willing to cover the cost of Lp(a) testing because there are no treatment options to lower your Lp(a) levels. This means that many people are walking around at higher risk of stroke and heart attack without even knowing it.
While there aren't any approved medications that lower Lp(a) levels currently on the market, there's optimism about the future. Right now, researchers are exploring potential new medicines capable of silencing RNA molecules, and this has already started to show promise in reducing Lp(a) levels.
Gene Silencing: A precise way to target Lp(a)
So how do these RNA-based treatments work?
Scientists have found that a gene called the LPA gene controls the amount of Lp(a) your body produces. This gene produces messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules in your liver cells that instruct those cells to make more Lp(a). This becomes a problem when your body starts producing too much Lp(a).
RNA-based treatments being studied now intervene by blocking those mRNA instructions, stopping the liver from producing too much Lp(a). It's a newer approach to medicine known as gene silencing, and it holds a lot of promise.
Several clinical trials are happening right now to investigate how effective these treatments actually are at reducing Lp(a) levels. It might still be a few years before a new Lp(a) treatment is approved and ready for use, but participating in these trials can help speed up this process and unlock treatments for others.
Speak with your physician to learn more about your Lp(a) levels to help determine if clinical trial participation would be right for you.
An Lp(a) test is included in the no-cost Heart and Kidney Health Screening offered through the Future of Medicine program.
CONTRIBUTING EXPERTS
Tyler Miller, MD, PhD - Medical Advisor, Patient Access
Dr. Miller is a Clinical Pathologist and Research Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard who works with Care Access to create access to clinical research for communities that are typically left out of the research process.
SOURCES
- Kronenberg F. Human Genetics and the Causal Role of Lipoprotein(a) for Various Diseases. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther. 2016;30(1):87-100. doi:10.1007/s10557-016-6648-3
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