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Investigator finds aspirin may increase "good cholesterol"

A recent study by an investigator in the Department of Surgery at The Ohio State University Medical Center indicates that aspirin may increase the amount and quality of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good cholesterol," that the body produces, offering significant benefits beyond the drug’s common use.

Results of the study were published in the August [2008] issue of the Journal of Lipid Research.

For decades, physicians have been prescribing aspirin for patients experiencing heart attack symptoms and as a preventive measure for those at high risk of cardiovascular disease. "We were able to show that aspirin might induce the production of the protein components of HDL, which takes cholesterol out of the plaque and moves it back to the liver where it can be utilized," says Sampath Parthasarathy, Ph.D., M.B.A., the Karl P. Klassen professor of surgery and director of research in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. "While aspirin has been used for its anti-inflammatory properties, we are hoping to create a new level of interest in its potential benefits."

Sampath Parthasarathy, PhD, MBA

Parthasarathy is leading a team of researchers, using a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, to continue the study and determine other ways in which aspirin can be beneficial.

Current research in highly-controlled animal experiments has shown that aspirin can increase HDL, while also increasing an anti-inflammatory protein called paraoxonase 1. Although the typical aspirin dosage is metabolized faster in the human bloodstream, the drug may have lasting effects that until now have gone undetected in research studies.

As humans age, the body produces less HDL and more low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad cholesterol."

Parthasarathy says the prospect of developing an aspirin-like compound that increases HDL and determining other ways in which aspirin can be beneficial holds great promise. Additional research is needed, and a controlled clinical study is being considered for the future.

"We are collaborating across disciplines, such as cardiology, endocrinology, and cardiothoracic survey, to study this issue. We have an opportunity to interact with community physicians and many other stakeholders to look at new ways to utilize compounds found in aspirin and similar compounds," he says.