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A family of globular proteins found in many plant and animal tissues that tend to bind a wide variety of ligands. Albumin is the main protein in blood plasma. Low serum levels occur in conditions associated with malnutrition, inflammation and liver and kidney diseases.
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An animal sterol found in the body tissues (and blood plasma) of vertebrates. It can be found in large concentrations within the liver, spinal cord, and brain. Cholesterol is an important component of the membranes of cells, providing stability. It is the major precursor for the synthesis of vitamin D, of the various steroid hormones, including cortisol, cortisone, and aldosterone in the adrenal glands, and of the sex hormones progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone. Cholesterol also has an important role for the brain synapses as well as in the immune system. In conditions featuring elevated low density lipoproteins (LDL), cholesterol often forms plaque deposits in the walls of arteries, a condition known as atherosclerosis, which is a major contributor to coronary heart disease and other forms of cardiovascular disease.
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A fibrin breakdown fragment — most useful for ruling out venous thromboembolism when clinical probability is low.
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The second most abundant immunoglobulin G (IgG) subclass in the circulation of healthy individuals. The IgG2 core hinge sequence contains 12 amino acids and up to four interchain disulfide bonds. This subtype has low affinity for binding both Fc receptors and complement component C1q. The production of this IgG2 is stimulated by exposure to bacterial capsular polysaccharides and other antigenic glycans.
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The major immunoglobulin secreted during a primary immune response. IgM binds with low affinity but high avidity (multiple binding sites) because it not only occurs as monomers but also as pentamers and hexamers.
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Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol — the primary lipid target in cardiovascular prevention.
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A lipoprotein that carries cholesterol around the body, for use by various cells. LDL transports cholesterol to the arteries and increased levels are associated with atherosclerosis, and thus myocardial infarctions and strokes. This is why cholesterol inside LDL lipoproteins is called bad cholesterol.
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A water-soluble vitamin belonging to the vitamin B family, which occurs in many animal and plant tissues, with antihyperlipidemic activity. Niacin is converted to its active form niacinamide, which is a component of the coenzymes nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and its phosphate form, NADP. These coenzymes play an important role in tissue respiration and in glycogen, lipid, amino acid, protein, and purine metabolism. Although the exact mechanism of action by which niacin lowers cholesterol is not fully understood, it may act by inhibiting the synthesis of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), inhibiting the release of free fatty acids from adipose tissue, increasing lipoprotein lipase activity, and reducing the hepatic synthesis of VLDL-C and LDL-C.
