Publications by authors named "Jeff Billheimer"

Background Utility of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in assessing the antiatherogenic properties of HDL may be limited in midlife women. Novel metrics of HDL function, lipid contents, and subclasses may better reflect the atheroprotective capacities of HDL, supporting the need to evaluate how cardiovascular health affects these metrics in women. We assessed the relationship of early midlife Life's Simple 7 (LS7) score and its health behavior components with future HDL function (HDL-cholesterol efflux capacity), HDL-phospholipid, HDL-triglyceride, HDL particles (HDL-P) and size, and the relationship between LS7 score and changes in HDL metrics over time.

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Background: The menopause transition (MT) could trigger low-grade chronic inflammation which may modify high-density lipoproteins (HDL) and lead to additional inflammatory responses contributing to atherosclerosis development.

Objective: To test whether complement proteins C3 and C4 increase around the final menstrual period (FMP), and whether changes in HDL subclasses and lipid content associate with C3 and C4 levels over time in midlife women.

Methods: The study included 471 women (at baseline: age 50.

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Objective: The cardioprotective capacity of HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol postmenopause has been challenged. HDL subclasses, lipid contents, and function might be better predictors of cardiovascular risk than HDL cholesterol. Changes in these measures have not been characterized over the menopause transition (MT) with respect to timing relative to the final menstrual period.

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Endothelial lipase (EL) is a major determinant of plasma HDL concentration, its activity being inversely proportional to HDL levels. Although it is known that it preferentially acts on HDL compared to LDL and VLDL, the basis for this specificity is not known. Here we tested the hypothesis that sphingomyelin, a major phospholipid in lipoproteins is a physiological inhibitor of EL, and that the preference of the enzyme for HDL may be due to low sphingomyelin/phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) ratio in HDL, compared to other lipoproteins.

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The toxic subcellular accumulation of lipids predisposes several human metabolic syndromes, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and some forms of neurodegeneration. To identify pathways that prevent lipid-induced cell death, we performed a genome-wide fatty acid sensitivity screen in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We identified 167 yeast mutants as sensitive to 0.

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