A very large genetic study published in the New England Journal of Medicine offers compelling evidence in support of a central role for LDL cholesterol in coronary heart disease. In a series of studies analyzing blood samples from nearly 100,000 people, Sekar Kathiresan and colleagues identified 15 rare mutations that block the activity of a single gene — called Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1). The mean LDL level was 12 mg/dL lower in mutation carriers than noncarriers. There were just 11 carriers of the mutations among 29,954 people with CHD versus 71 carriers among 83,140 people without known CHD (carrier frequency: 0.04% vs. 0.09%). This worked out to a 53% reduction in CHD risk for mutation carriers.
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