Pharmacology & Therapeutics 141 (2014) 358367

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Pharmacology & Therapeutics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/pharmthera

Associate editor: M.J. Chapman

Remnant cholesterol as a cause of ischemic heart disease: Evidence,

denition, measurement, atherogenicity, high risk patients, and present
and future treatment
Anette Varbo a,b,c, Marianne Benn b,c,d, Brge G. Nordestgaard a,b,c,e,
a

Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Herlev Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark

The Copenhagen General Population Study, Herlev Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark
c
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
d
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Gentofte Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark
e
The Copenhagen City Heart Study, Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark
b

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
This review focuses on remnant cholesterol as a causal risk factor for ischemic heart disease (IHD), on its denition, measurement, atherogenicity, and levels in high risk patient groups; in addition, present and future pharmacological approaches to lowering remnant cholesterol levels are considered.
Observational studies show association between elevated levels of remnant cholesterol and increased risk of cardiovascular disease, even when remnant cholesterol levels are dened, measured, or calculated in different ways.
In-vitro and animal studies also support the contention that elevated levels of remnant cholesterol may cause atherosclerosis same way as elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, by cholesterol accumulation
in the arterial wall. Genetic studies of variants associated with elevated remnant cholesterol levels show that an
increment of 1 mmol/L (39 mg/dL) in levels of nonfasting remnant cholesterol associates with a 2.8-fold increased
risk of IHD, independently of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Results from genetic studies also show
that elevated levels of remnant cholesterol are causally associated with both low-grade inammation and IHD.
However, elevated levels of LDL cholesterol are associated with IHD, but not with low-grade inammation. Such
results indicate that elevated LDL cholesterol levels cause atherosclerosis without a major inammatory component, whereas an inammatory component of atherosclerosis is driven by elevated remnant cholesterol levels.
Post-hoc subgroup analyses of randomized trials using brates in individuals with elevated triglyceride levels,
elevated remnant cholesterol levels, show a benet of lowering triglycerides or remnant cholesterol levels; however, large randomized trials with the primary target of lowering remnant cholesterol levels are still missing.
2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Remnants
Cholesterol
Lipoprotein
Cardiovascular disease
Atherosclerosis
Causal

Contents
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8.
9.

Introduction including denition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Remnant cholesterol levels and observational risk of ischemic heart disease . .
Remnant cholesterol, genetic variation, and causal risk of ischemic heart disease
Measurement of remnant cholesterol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Atherogenicity of elevated remnant cholesterol . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Remnant cholesterol levels in high risk patient groups . . . . . . . . . . .
Lowering of remnant cholesterol levels using current approaches . . . . . .
Future pharmacological approaches to lowering remnant cholesterol levels . .
Conclusions and perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Abbreviations: HDL, high-density lipoprotein; IDL, intermediate-density lipoprotein; IHD, ischemic heart disease; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; LRP, LDL receptor-related protein;
VLDL, very-low-density lipoprotein.
Corresponding author at: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Herlev Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev Ringvej 75, DK-2730 Herlev, Denmark. Tel.: +45 3 868 3297;
fax: +45 3 868 3311.
E-mail address: [email protected] (B.G. Nordestgaard).
0163-7258/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pharmthera.2013.11.008

A. Varbo et al. / Pharmacology & Therapeutics 141 (2014) 358367

359

Funding sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Conict of interest disclosures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a leading cause of morbidity and

mortality worldwide. An important risk factor for IHD is elevated levels
of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, but even after lowering of
LDL cholesterol to recommended levels, there is a considerable residual
risk of IHD. Some of this residual risk may be explained by elevated
remnant cholesterol levels (Chapman et al., 2011).
Lipoproteins transport water-insoluble triglycerides and cholesterol
between tissues and organs in the body (Havel & Kane, 2001). They
consist of a core of hydrophobic cholesterol esters and triglycerides
surrounded by a hydrophilic mono-layer of phospholipids, free cholesterol, and apolipoproteins. The different classes of lipoproteins, i.e. chylomicrons, chylomicron remnants, very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL),
intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL), LDL, lipoprotein(a) and highdensity lipoprotein (HDL), are different in density as a result of the
amount of triglycerides and cholesterol they contain, and have different
apolipoproteins on their surface. Chylomicrons, chylomicron remnants,
VLDL, and IDL are rich in both triglycerides and cholesterol and have relatively low densities, whereas LDL, lipoprotein(a), and HDL mainly contain cholesterol and have a higher density. Lipoproteins are produced by
two pathways: 1) the endogenous pathway in which VLDL are assembled in hepatocytes and are converted to IDL and LDL by triglyceride lipolysis in plasma (on the luminal surface of endothelial cells lining the
capillaries or in the lumen of vessels) and by exchange of lipids and apolipoproteins with other lipoproteins, and 2) the exogenous pathway in
which chylomicrons are produced by enterocytes, and are converted to
chylomicron remnants by triglyceride lipolysis in plasma (Havel &
Kane, 2001). Finally, lipoprotein(a) is an LDL particle with an additional
apolipoprotein(a) attached, and levels of this lipoprotein is mainly genetically determined (Nordestgaard et al., 2010; Kronenberg & Utermann,
2013).
After secretion of chylomicrons from the intestine and VLDL from
the liver, both types of lipoproteins are enriched in apolipoprotein E
during their degradation to remnants. Apolipoprotein E is important
for the uptake of remnants by the liver, because it, like apolipoprotein
B, functions as a ligand for hepatic receptors, i.e. the LDL and LRP (LDL
receptor-related protein) receptors (Havel, 2010; Ramasamy, 2013).
Consequently, mutations in the APOE gene can cause increased plasma
levels of cholesterol and triglycerides (Frikke-Schmidt et al., 2000).
However, hepatic uptake of remnants is complex and not fully understood, and mechanisms other than uptake via the LDL and LRP receptors
have been proposed, such as internalization after binding to heparan
sulfate proteoglycans (MacArthur et al., 2007).
We dene remnant cholesterol as the cholesterol content of a subset
of the triglyceride-rich lipoproteins called remnants, i.e. chylomicron
remnants, VLDL, and IDL in the nonfasting state, and VLDL and IDL in
the fasting state; in most individuals chylomicrons are not present in
plasma as these particles are degraded to chylomicron remnants very
fast due to rapid triglyceride hydrolysis by lipoprotein lipase. Remnant
cholesterol levels are therefore highly correlated with triglyceride levels
(Varbo et al., 2013a). In plasma, triglycerides and cholesterol are exchanged between HDL and remnants, and levels of HDL cholesterol and
remnant cholesterol are inversely correlated. This has previously made
it difcult to determine if it is low levels of HDL cholesterol per se or the
concurrent high levels of remnant cholesterol and triglycerides per se
that is the cause of the increased risk of IHD found in observational
studies.
The aim of this review is rst to summarize current evidence of
elevated levels of remnant cholesterol as a causal risk factor for IHD

including results from observational studies, experimental studies,

genetic studies, and randomized clinical intervention trials. Second, we
describe measurement of remnants, the pathophysiology behind the
atherogenicity of remnants, and presence of elevated remnant cholesterol levels in high risk patient groups. Finally, we review present and future
pharmacological approaches to lowering remnant cholesterol levels.

2. Remnant cholesterol levels and

observational risk of ischemic heart disease
Large observational studies, and meta-analyses thereof, have shown
that elevated triglycerides are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (Austin, 1991; Hokanson & Austin, 1996; Nordestgaard
et al., 2007; Freiberg et al., 2008; Di Angelantonio et al., 2009; Chapman
et al., 2011; Varbo et al., 2011b); however, the association of elevated
remnant cholesterol levels with cardiovascular disease risk is not as thoroughly studied. Although there has been many studies of the association
of remnant cholesterol levels with cardiovascular disease, most have
been relatively small casecontrol studies (Devaraj et al., 1998; Sakata
et al., 1998; Kugiyama et al., 1999; Takeichi et al., 1999; Masuoka et al.,
1998, 2000a, 2000b; Song et al., 2000; Higashi et al., 2001; Karpe et al.,
2001; Inoue et al., 2004; Miwa et al., 2004; Oi et al., 2004; Hopkins
et al., 2005; Lamon-Fava et al., 2008; Hiki et al., 2009) or observational
studies (McNamara et al., 2001; Fukushima et al., 2001, 2004; Imke
et al., 2005; Nakamura et al., 2005) using different assays (and thereby
denitions) for determining remnant cholesterol levels. Most of the
studies measured remnant cholesterol in the fasting state; however,
studies of triglyceride levels, which are highly correlated with remnant
cholesterol levels (Fig. 1), have shown that elevated nonfasting levels
of triglycerides are consistently associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and are possibly more useful for predicting risk of cardiovascular disease than fasting levels of triglycerides (Bansal et al.,
2007; Freiberg et al., 2008; Mora et al., 2008; Stalenhoef & de Graaf,
2008; Nordestgaard et al., 2007, 2009; Kolovou et al., 2011; Langsted
et al., 2011; Nordestgaard & Freiberg, 2011; Varbo et al., 2011b).

7.0

Lipoprotein cholesterol, mmol/L

1. Introduction including denition

6.0
Remnant

5.0
4.0
3.0

LDL

2.0
1.0

0.0
1-1.99 2-2.99 3-3.99
Triglycerides, < 1
mmol/L
Number
14,906 28,041 10,722 3,826

HDL

4-4.99

>= 5

1,418

982

Fig. 1. Lipoprotein cholesterol as a function of increasing levels of nonfasting triglycerides.

Data are from the Copenhagen General Population Study. R2 = 0.96 for the correlation of
remnant cholesterol levels with triglyceride levels. HDL = high-density lipoprotein,
LDL = low-density lipoprotein.
Modied from Varbo et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2013;61:427436.

360

A. Varbo et al. / Pharmacology & Therapeutics 141 (2014) 358367

Lipid levels
(mmol/L or ratio)

N total

N cases

<0.4

11,589

311

0.4-0.6

11,410

471

1.1 (0.8-1.6)

0.6-0.7

11,265

578

1.2 (0.9-1.6)

0.7-1.1

11,241

736

2.0 (1.5-2.6)

>1.1

11,152

778

2.3 (1.7-3.1)

Quintile
Remnant cholesterol
1

Remnant cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio

1
<0.2

Hazard Ratio
Ischemic Heart Disease

Hazard Ratio (95%CI)

11,580

317

0.2-0.3

11,500

480

1.3 (1.0-1.6)

0.3-0.5

11,302

557

1.5 (1.2-1.9)

0.5-0.8

11,214

719

2.0 (1.6-2.5)

>0.8

11,061

801

2.6 (2.1-3.2)

HDL cholesterol
5

>2.0

11,895

436

1.7-2.0

11,893

517

1.2 (1.0-1.4)

1.4-1.7

11,730

536

1.5 (1.3-1.8)

1.2-1.4

11,054

736

1.9 (1.6-2.2)

<1.2

10,334

713

2.5 (2.1-3.0)

LDL cholesterol
1

<2.4

10,383

326

2.4-3.0

12,843

434

1.0 (0.8-1.3)

3.0-3.5

11,582

515

1.2 (0.9-1.5)

3.5-4.1

10,718

584

1.3 (1.0-1.6)

>4.1

11,135

1,015

1.8 (1.4-2.2)
1

P
for trend

1 x 10

6 x 10

-14

-24

2 x 10 -31

4 x 10 -10

Hazard ratio (95%CI)

Fig. 2. Lipoprotein levels in quintiles and risk of ischemic heart disease in the general population. Risk of ischemic heart disease as a function of lipoprotein levels in quintiles were
estimated in the Copenhagen General Population Study and the Copenhagen City Heart Study combined. Hazard ratios were estimated by Cox proportional hazards regression models,
adjusted for age (as time scale), sex, smoking, hypertension, time since last meal, time of day for blood sampling, and lipid lowering therapy. P for trend was by Cuzicks extension of
the Wilcoxon rank sum test. CI = condence interval, HDL = high-density lipoprotein, LDL = low-density lipoprotein.
Modied from Varbo et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2013;61:427436.

Most people are in the nonfasting state most of the day, since fasting
implies not eating for at least 8 h, and for most people in afuent countries this is only the case early in the morning. This argues for examining
association of remnant cholesterol levels with cardiovascular disease in
the nonfasting state. We previously reported an association of elevated
nonfasting remnant cholesterol levels, calculated as nonfasting total
cholesterol minus HDL cholesterol minus LDL cholesterol, with increased risk of IHD in a large sample of the general population (Varbo
et al., 2013a). Individuals with nonfasting remnant cholesterol levels in
the upper fth quintile, that is, remnant cholesterol levels N1.1 mmol/L
(N43 mg/dL), had a hazard ratio for IHD of 2.3(95% condence interval:
1.73.1) compared to individuals with nonfasting remnant cholesterol
in the lowest quintile, that is, b0.4 mmol/L (b16 mg/dL) (Fig. 2, top
panel). Similarly, the ratio of nonfasting remnant cholesterol to HDL
cholesterol was also signicantly associated with increased risk of
IHD, with a hazard ratio of 2.6(2.13.2) for a ratio N0.8 compared to a
ratio b0.2 (Fig. 2, upper middle panel). In that study, elevated levels of
nonfasting remnant cholesterol and increased ratio of nonfasting remnant cholesterol to HDL cholesterol associated with increased risk of
IHD in a magnitude similar to those seen for elevated LDL cholesterol
and reduced HDL cholesterol levels (Fig. 2, lower and lower middle
panel), both of which are well-known markers of increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
3. Remnant cholesterol, genetic
variation, and causal risk of ischemic heart disease
Plasma levels of remnant cholesterol (and likewise triglycerides) are
partly genetically determined by common and rare genetic variants

(Yuan et al., 2007; Hegele et al., 2009; Johansen et al., 2011a,2011b),

and partly determined by lifestyle factors such as diet, obesity, alcohol
intake, and physical activity (Chapman et al., 2011). Several rare genetic
variants are known to inuence levels of triglycerides, and thus
remnant cholesterol levels, such as deleterious mutations in the LPL,
APOC2, APOA5, LMF1, and GPIHBP1 genes that in homozygote or
compound heterozygote forms can cause severe chylomicronemia
(Brunzell & Deeb, 2001; Johansen & Hegele, 2011). However, there are
also numerous common genetic variants that inuence levels of
remnant cholesterol, but with a smaller effect size than the rare genetic
variants. Many of the common variants have been indentied in genome wide association studies (GWAS) aimed at identifying genetic
variants associated with levels of triglycerides (Kathiresan et al., 2008;
Willer et al., 2008; Teslovich et al., 2010). Associations of some of
these common genetic variants with lipoprotein levels were replicated
in large general population studies by us (Varbo et al., 2011a; Jorgensen
et al., 2013), which showed that variants in TRIB1 (rs2954029), GCKR
(rs1260326), and three variants in APOA5 (rs651821, rs3135506, and
rs619054) were associated with higher levels of nonfasting triglycerides,
remnant cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol, and with lower levels of
HDL cholesterol, and also that the TRIB1 and APOA5 variants were
associated with increased risk of IHD and myocardial infarction; however, the GCKR variant was not associated with risk of IHD or myocardial infarction. TRIB1 encodes tribble-1 which is a protein with a regulatory
effect on mitogen-activated protein kinase (Kiss-Toth et al., 2004), and
TRIB1 is an example of a gene identied in GWAS that was previously
not known to be involved in atherosclerosis development.
In the metabolism of lipoproteins, the cholesteryl ester transfer
protein (CETP) exchange triglycerides for cholesterol esters between

A. Varbo et al. / Pharmacology & Therapeutics 141 (2014) 358367

Alleles

19,891

0-1

19,856

15,177

3-6

361

Remnant cholesterol
TRIB1 rs2954029
GCKR rs1260326
APOA5 rs651821

0%

0%

6%

8%

p = 2 x 10-99

-1%

p = 2 x 10-77
19%

15%

Remnant cholesterol and HDL cholesterol

10,147
0-1
LPL rs1801177
40,994
2
LPL G188E
LPL rs268
3,783
3-4
LPL rs328

0%

8%

p = 1 x 10

-81

2%

p = 1 x 10-18

0%

14%

p = 4 x 10

-4%

-103

37%

22%

p = 2 x 10-17

3%

-3%

0%

0%

0%

0%

p = 1 x 10

-84

1%

-11%

p = 0.004

1%

HDL cholesterol
LIPC -480C>T
ABCA1 N1800H
ABCA1 R2144X

2,473

18,513

-2%

33,938

2-3

-4%

1,476

0-1

53,414

34

0%

0%

p = 2 x 10

0%

3%

-6

-5%

p = 0.001

5%

-8%

0%

0%

0%

p = 3 x 10

1%

-58

p = 0.6

0%

LDL cholesterol
APOB rs5742904
LDLR W23X
LDLR W66G
LDLR W556S
PCSK9 rs11591147

0%
0%

3%

p = 0.7
2%

0.6

0.8

-1%

p = 0.5
11%

1.0

Remnant cholesterol
(mmol/L)

0.4

0.6

0.8

Remnant cholesterol
to HDL cholesterol
(ratio)

0%
14%

p = 0.1

p = 2 x 10-72
90%

-9%

1.3

1.6

1.9

HDL cholesterol
(mmol/L)

LDL cholesterol
(mmol/L)

Fig. 3. Lipid levels as a function of genotypes in allele counts. Bars show mean lipid levels with standard error whiskers in participants from the Copenhagen General Population Study and
the Copenhagen City Heart Study not using lipid lowering therapy. Genetic variants included in each group are shown in brackets. P-values for trend were estimated by Cuzicks extension
of the Wilcoxon rank sum test. HDL = high-density lipoprotein, LDL = low-density lipoprotein.
Modied from Varbo et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2013;61:427436.

remnants and HDL particles, leading to inversely correlated levels of

remnant cholesterol and HDL cholesterol (Fig. 1). Therefore, most
genetic variants that are associated with elevated levels of remnant cholesterol are also associated with low levels of HDL cholesterol, and to
some extent also with elevated LDL cholesterol levels. This has previously made it difcult to separately determine the causality of elevated
levels of remnant cholesterol and low levels of HDL cholesterol on risk of
IHD. To circumvent this, we conducted a Mendelian randomization
study on 73,513 participants from three Danish studies (Varbo et al.,
2013a), in which we used 15 genetic variants combined into four allele
scores that affected levels of either 1) nonfasting remnant cholesterol
alone, 2) remnant cholesterol and HDL cholesterol combined, 3) HDL
cholesterol alone, and as a positive control 4) LDL cholesterol alone
(Fig. 3). In that study, we found the group of genetic variants affecting
only remnant cholesterol levels, and the group of genetic variants affecting both remnant cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels, to be causally
associated with IHD, with a causal odds ratio of 2.8(1.94.2) per
1 mmol/L (39 mg/dL) higher level of remnant cholesterol and a causal
odds ratio of 2.9(1.94.6) for a 1 ratio increase of remnant cholesterol
to HDL cholesterol, respectively (Fig. 4). However, the group of genetic
variants that only affected levels of HDL cholesterol was not causally
associated with risk of IHD. From this, we concluded that elevated levels
of remnant cholesterol cause IHD, independently of HDL cholesterol
levels.
4. Measurement of remnant cholesterol
Separation of lipoproteins into different classes was rst done by ultracentrifugation in the 1940's (Gofman et al., 1956). Since then, assays
for measuring remnants using different methods have been developed

(Havel, 2000; Nakajima et al., 1993, 2011; Ooi & Nordestgaard, 2011;
Hanada et al., 2012). However, as lipoprotein remnants are different
both in composition of lipids and apolipoproteins as a result of different
stages of triglyceride lipolysis and exchange of apolipoproteins and
lipids with other lipoproteins, and also because remnants are formed
by two different pathways, i.e. the endogenous and the exogenous
pathways, it is difcult to create an assay that measures all remnants
at the same time (Ooi & Nordestgaard, 2011). An alternative to directly
measuring remnants is to calculate nonfasting remnant cholesterol
levels as nonfasting total cholesterol minus HDL cholesterol minus LDL
cholesterol, like it has been done in several studies of large Danish cohorts (Nordestgaard et al., 2007; Freiberg et al., 2008; Varbo et al.,
2011a; Varbo et al., 2011b; Jorgensen et al., 2013; Varbo et al., 2013a;
Varbo et al., 2013b). Although possibly not as precise as directly measuring remnants, the advantage of calculating remnant cholesterol is that it
is inexpensive, and can be done from a standard lipid prole, as long as
it has been taken in the nonfasting state, which makes it useful for clinicians anywhere.
5. Atherogenicity of elevated remnant cholesterol
Mechanistically, the explanation for a causal effect of elevated levels
of nonfasting remnant cholesterol on increased risk of IHD likely is
simple and straight forward, that is, that remnant cholesterol, like LDL
cholesterol, enter and is trapped in the intima of the arterial wall
(Shaikh et al., 1991; Nordestgaard et al., 1992; Nordestgaard et al.,
1995), leading to accumulation of intimal cholesterol, atherosclerosis
and ultimately IHD (Fig. 5).
Different sizes of lipoproteins presumably play a role in their ability
to enter the arterial wall and get trapped. Studies in rabbit and in

362

A. Varbo et al. / Pharmacology & Therapeutics 141 (2014) 358367

Risk of ischemic heart disease

Hazard/Odds ratio

P for
P-value comparison

Remnant cholesterol
Observational: Elevated plasma levels

1.37 (1.27-1.47)

5 x 10-17

2.82 (1.92-4.15)

1 x 10

-7

1.23 (1.19-1.27)

9 x 10-33

2.94 (1.90-4.55)

1 x 10-6

Observational: Reduced plasma levels

1.55 (1.43-1.68)

9 x 10-27

Causal: Genetically reduced levels

0.74 (0.40-1.37)

0.3

1.14 (1.10-1.18)

2 x 10-14

1.47 (1.32-1.63)

-13

Causal: Genetically elevated levels

3 x 10-4

Remnant cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio

Observational: Elevated plasma levels

1 x 10-4
Causal: Genetically elevated levels

HDL cholesterol

0.02

LDL cholesterol
Observational: Elevated plasma levels

7 x 10-6
Causal: Genetically elevated levels

4 x 10

Hazard/Odds ratio for a 1 mmol/L or ratio increase/decrease (95%CI)

Fig. 4. Observational and causal risk estimates for ischemic heart disease. Observational risk estimates in hazard ratios for a 1 mmol/L or 1 ratio increase or decrease in plasma lipoprotein
levels for 68,328 participants from the Copenhagen General Population Study and the Copenhagen City Heart Study combined, estimated by Cox proportional hazards regression models
with adjustment for age (time scale), sex, smoking, hypertension, time since last meal, time of day for blood sampling, and lipid lowering therapy. Causal risk estimates were from 73,513
participants from the Copenhagen General Population Study, the Copenhagen City Heart Study, and the Copenhagen Ischemic Heart Disease Study combined, and estimated by instrumental variable analyses. CI = condence interval, HDL = high-density lipoprotein, LDL = low-density lipoprotein.
Modied from Varbo et al. J Am Coll Cardiol 2013;61:427436.

human atherosclerotic plaque tissue have shown that chylomicrons and

large VLDL particles are too large to enter the arterial wall (Nordestgaard
& Zilversmit, 1988; Nordestgaard et al., 1988), but that their remnants
penetrate the arterial intima and get trapped in the connective tissue
of the arterial wall and eventually accumulate (Shaikh et al., 1991;
Nordestgaard et al., 1992; Rapp et al., 1994; Nordestgaard et al., 1995).
In line with this, patients who are homozygous for rare deleterious mutations in the LPL gene, causing chylomicronemia with extremely high
levels of large chylomicrons and VLDLs, have an increased risk
of pancreatitis, but not an increased risk of IHD (Brunzell & Deeb,
2001). Also, in-vitro studies have shown that remnants, unlike LDL,
may not need to be oxidized in order to be taken up by macrophages
to cause foam cell formation and atherosclerosis (Nakajima et al.,
2006).
Remnants may also be involved in the development of atherosclerosis and IHD by other pathways than by accumulation of cholesterol in
the arterial wall. Experimental studies have found remnants to be associated with mechanisms underlying endothelial dysfunction, such as
impaired vasodilation (Zheng & Liu, 2007) and enhanced inammatory
response (Giannattasio et al., 2005; Ting et al., 2007; Alipour et al., 2008;
Wang et al., 2009; Zilversmit, 1979), and to play a role in plaque disruption and thrombus formation (Falk et al., 1995; Davies, 1996; Moyer
et al., 1998; Kohler & Grant, 2000; Sambola et al., 2003; Grant, 2007).
Also, our results from a large multi-directional Mendelian randomization study of 60,608 individuals with 10,668 cases of IHD indicated
that elevated levels of remnant cholesterol may not cause atherosclerosis in exactly the same way as LDL cholesterol (Varbo et al., 2013b). We

thus found that elevated levels of remnant cholesterol were causally associated with both low-grade inammation and IHD; however, elevated
levels of LDL cholesterol were associated causally with IHD, but not with
low-grade inammation (Fig. 6). These results were consistent even in
participants without obesity and without diabetes mellitus. Such results
indicate that elevated LDL cholesterol levels cause atherosclerosis
without a major inammatory component, whereas an inammatory
component of atherosclerosis is driven by elevated remnant cholesterol
levels.

6. Remnant cholesterol levels in high risk patient groups

The most common cause of elevated remnant cholesterol and triglycerides is obesity (Table 1). Likewise, poorly controlled diabetes
mellitus and excessive alcohol intake are common causes of elevated
remnant cholesterol levels. In some women, high estrogen levels, either
endogenous during pregnancy or from exogenous sources like oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy, can lead to high triglycerides, and possibly high remnant cholesterol levels. Kidney and liver
diseases, and a number of different drugs, including oral glucocorticoids,
can lead to elevated remnant cholesterol levels. Importantly, on top of
these lifestyle and exogenous factors just mentioned, the genetic
make-up of the individual person, including both rare and common
genetic variants, determines the extent of elevated triglycerides and
remnant cholesterol levels (Hegele et al., 2009; Johansen et al., 2011a;
Johansen et al., 2011b).

A. Varbo et al. / Pharmacology & Therapeutics 141 (2014) 358367

Lumen

363

Remnants

Chylomicron

Chylomicron
remnant

VLDL

IDL

LDL

HDL

Intima

Media
Adventitia
Endothelial cell

Smooth muscle cell

Triglycerides

Cholesterol

Internal elastic lamina

Fig. 5. Lipoproteins and the arterial wall. The gure shows the hypothesis of the mechanism by which remnants and LDL enter and are trapped in the arterial wall, and eventually cause
atherosclerosis. HDL = high-density lipoprotein, IDL = intermediate-density lipoprotein, LDL = low-density lipoprotein, VLDL = very-low-density lipoprotein.

patients in the later study displayed multiple risk factors for IHD. The
simple explanation for this seemingly paradox is that at very high
triglyceride levels, lipoproteins are too large to enter into the arterial
intima to cause atherosclerosis (Nordestgaard & Zilversmit, 1988;
Nordestgaard et al., 1988), while when triglycerides are lowered

The chylomicronemia syndrome with typically triglycerides

N25 mmol/L (N2200 mg/dL) is a special case with increased risk of pancreatitis and usually normal risk of IHD (Brunzell & Deeb, 2001), unless
triglycerides are lowered substantially, when the risk of IHD in these
patients may still be increased (Benlian et al., 1996); importantly, the

Low-grade inflammation

Ischemic heart disease

P-value

P-value

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

< 0.001

0.6

< 0.001

Remnant-C increase of 1 mmol/L

Observational
Causal

LDL-C increase of 1 mmol/L

Observational
Causal

-10

10

20

30

40

CRP plasma level change in %

50

Odds / risk ratio for ischemic heart disease

Fig. 6. Observational and causal associations between remnant cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol with low-grade inammation and ischemic heart disease. The left side
of the gure shows observational and causal change in C-reactive protein levels in percent with 95% condence intervals per 1 mmol/L (39 mg/dL) higher level of remnant cholesterol and
per 1 mmol/L (39 mg/dL) higher level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in 48,250 participants from the Copenhagen General Population Study. Observational estimates were by linear regression and causal estimates by instrumental variable analyses. The right side of the gure shows observational odds ratios and causal risk ratios with 95% condence intervals for
ischemic heart disease per 1 mmol/L (39 mg/dL) higher level of remnant cholesterol and per 1 mmol/L (39 mg/dL) higher level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in 60,608 participants from the Copenhagen General Population Study, the Copenhagen City Heart Study, and the Copenhagen Ischemic Heart Disease Study combined. Observational odds ratios were
estimated by logistic regression and causal risk ratios by instrumental variable analyses. C = cholesterol, CRP = C-reactive protein, LDL = low-density lipoprotein.
Modied from Varbo et al. Circulation 2013;128:12981309.

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A. Varbo et al. / Pharmacology & Therapeutics 141 (2014) 358367

Table 1
Causes of elevated remnant cholesterol and triglycerides.
Obesity
Diabetes mellitus
Alcohol excess
Estrogen (incl. pregnancy)
Kidney disease
Liver disease
Some drugs
Other rare causes
Common genetic variants
Rare genetic variants

substantially, lipoproteins become smaller and are then able to penetrate into and get trapped in the arterial wall (Shaikh et al., 1991;
Nordestgaard et al., 1992; Rapp et al., 1994; Nordestgaard et al., 1995).
The classic genetic forms of the chylomicronemia syndrome are
caused by homozygosity (or compound heterozygosity) for deleterious
mutations in the LPL gene encoding lipoprotein lipase, the enzyme
degrading triglycerides in plasma, or mutations in genes encoding cofactors and other proteins necessary for lipoprotein lipase function
like in APOC2, APOA5, LMF1, and GPIHBP1 (Brunzell & Deeb, 2001;
Johansen & Hegele, 2011). These genetic forms of the chylomicronemia
syndrome are rare; however, the more commonly observed forms are
caused by the interplay of genetic factors with external factors (Yuan
et al., 2007; Gotoda et al., 2012), which are typically poorly controlled
diabetes mellitus, excessive alcohol intake, and high estrogen levels in
some women, as mentioned above.

7. Lowering of remnant cholesterol levels using current approaches

In a recent consensus document (Chapman et al., 2011), therapeutic
targeting of triglycerides 1.7 mmol/L (150 mg/dL) was recommended in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease after lowering of LDL
cholesterol below recommended levels, which includes lowering of
remnant cholesterol. Elevated levels of remnant cholesterol can be
lowered by lifestyle changes and by pharmacological therapy. Lifestyle
changes that effectively lower remnant cholesterol levels include
weight reduction (the most important), reduced alcohol intake,
reduced dietary intake of saturated fat, smoking cessation, and increased physical activity (Chapman et al., 2011). The mechanisms by
which lifestyle changes reduce remnant cholesterol levels are by decreasing hepatic secretion and by increasing hepatic clearance of VLDL
particles.
Current pharmacological therapy that lowers remnant cholesterol
levels includes statins, niacin, and brates. Randomized clinical intervention trials aimed at lowering LDL cholesterol levels with statins
have shown that triglycerides and non-HDL cholesterol, the latter
being LDL cholesterol plus remnant cholesterol, were also lowered during treatment (Grundy et al., 2004; Gotto & Moon, 2012); however,
these ndings were in post-hoc analyses, and most statin trials excluded
participants with triglycerides N4 mmol/L (N350 mg/dL), making it impossible to know the potential benet of statin treatment in those with
elevated remnant cholesterol levels and triglycerides N4 mmol/L
(N350 mg/dL). There have so far not been conducted randomized
clinical intervention trials with statins among patients with hypertriglyceridemia with the primary target of lowering triglyceride and/or
remnant cholesterol levels.
Randomized trials with niacin in addition to statin or brate therapy
have lead to conicting results regarding reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease (Carlson & Rosenhamer, 1988; Lavigne & Karas, 2013). The
Coronary Drug Project showed that immediate release niacin 3 g/day
was associated with a 26% reduction in non-fatal myocardial infarction
after 7 years of follow-up and a 11% reduced all-cause mortality after
15 years of follow-up (Canner et al., 1986; Clobrate and niacin in
coronary heart disease, 1975); however, the AIM-HIGH study found

no additional effect of adding extended-release niacin in addition to

statin therapy in secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease
(Boden et al., 2011). Importantly, the AIM-HIGH study requested additional LDL cholesterol lowering if the LDL cholesterol target was not
met, even in the niacin placebo arm, making it very difcult to show
an effect of niacin added to statin treatment. Results from the HPS2THRIVE study, examining the effect of adding niacin to statin therapy
in a wider range of patients are awaited, but preliminary results show
lack of effect together with substantial side effects in the niacin group
(Haynes et al., 2013; HPS2-THRIVE press release on preliminary results,
2013). Concerning remnant cholesterol it should be emphasized
though, that both the AIM-HIGH and the HPS2-THRIVE studies recruited
very few participants with particularly elevated remnant cholesterol
levels, meaning that current evidence cannot educate us about the effect
of niacin when given to high risk individuals with elevated remnant
cholesterol levels. The only appropriate trial for this question was the
trial by Carlson & Rosenhamer in, 1988 of combined niacin and brate
treatment given to myocardial infarction survivors (Carlson &
Rosenhamer, 1988). Although this trial showed a clear 26% reduction
in total mortality and a 36% reduction in IHD mortality in the treatment
group, these results should be interpreted cautiously as the trial was not
blinded.
Randomized clinical intervention trials examining brates in
prevention of cardiovascular disease have also produced conicting results, primarily showing effect on reduction of risk of non-fatal myocardial infarction, but with no effect on risk of ischemic stroke or
cardiovascular mortality (Jun et al., 2010). However, these trials mainly
focused on elevated LDL cholesterol levels or reduced HDL cholesterol
levels, and a meta-analysis of post-hoc analyses from several brate
trials of subgroups of patients with elevated triglyceride levels, showed
a large benet of brates on risk of cardiovascular disease in these
patients (Sacks et al., 2010; Chapman et al., 2011).
Statins are the rst choice of therapy in patients with hyperlipidemia; however, addition of brates or possibly niacin should be considered in patients who have hypertriglyceridemia, and thus elevated
remnant cholesterol levels, despite optimal statin treatment and
lifestyle interventions (Chapman et al., 2011). Although the addition
of niacin to statin therapy can be questioned after the negative results
of the AIM-HIGH (Boden et al., 2011) and HPS2-THRIVE (Haynes et al.,
2013; HPS2-THRIVE press release on preliminary results, 2013) studies,
as mentioned above, these trials were not designed to look at effects of
niacin addition to statin in those with elevated levels of remnant
cholesterol.
Taken together, there is a need for large randomized clinical intervention trials investigating if reducing remnant cholesterol levels (and
triglyceride levels) in patients with elevated levels will reduce the risk
of cardiovascular disease.
8. Future pharmacological
approaches to lowering remnant cholesterol levels
Given the documented causal association between elevated levels of
remnant cholesterol and increased risk of IHD (Jorgensen et al., 2013;
Varbo et al., 2013a; Varbo et al., 2013b), and the lack of well documented effect in reducing IHD risk in those with elevated remnant cholesterol levels with statins, brates, and/or niacin, there is a clear need for new
therapies to reduce remnant cholesterol as add on therapy to statins or
to be used in statin intolerant patients.
One possibility is to use omega-3 fatty acids, or sh oil, to lower
remnant cholesterol levels, although the use of such drugs have so far
focused on lowering triglycerides to reduce risk of pancreatitis in
those with triglycerides N5 mmol/L (440 mg/dL). However, recent trials
have suggested that some omega-3 fatty acids may also reduce remnant
cholesterol levels (Bays et al., 2012), but large randomized trials to detect reduced IHD risk after such treatment is awaited. So far randomized
clinical intervention trials with sh oil in secondary prevention of

A. Varbo et al. / Pharmacology & Therapeutics 141 (2014) 358367

cardiovascular disease have had conicting results (Casula et al., 2013;

Kwak et al., 2012; Rizos et al., 2012).
Other possibilities include a large number of novel drugs in the process of being developed and tested for clinical use (Gotto & Moon,
2013). These include drugs targeting the production of apolipoprotein
B with the APOB antisense oligonuclotide mipomersen (Raal et al.,
2010), recently approved for use in patients with homozygous familial
hypercholesterolemia in the US, and the MTP inhibitor lomitapide
(Cuchel et al., 2007; Cuchel et al., 2013), also recently approved for
use in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, in the
US and in Europe. Both mipomersen and lomitapide unfortunately
have adverse effects including increasing hepatic lipid content, which
so far limits the use to add on therapy to other lipid-lowering therapies
in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia.
Another new line of drugs being developed are antibodies against
plasma proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9)(Lee &
Hegele, 2013). PCSK9 binds to the LDL receptor and promotes its degradation, and inhibition of PCSK9 increases the number of LDL receptors
on the liver, promoting LDL uptake from plasma, and possibly also uptake of remnants. Also, antisense inhibition of APOC3, encoding apolipoprotein C3, have in preclinical models and in a phase I clinical trial
showed promising results regarding reduction of triglyceride levels
(Graham et al., 2013). There has also been developed gene therapy for
lipoprotein lipase deciency, which has been shown to lower triglycerides in patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia (Gaudet et al., 2012),
and are now approved for clinical use in Europe; lipoprotein lipase
activators are likewise being developed (Eriksson et al., 2013). Finally,
several drugs that inhibit CETP have been developed; however, results
so far have either showed increased risk of cardiovascular disease of
CETP inhibition on top of statins (Barter et al., 2007), or no effect on
risk of cardiovascular disease (Schwartz et al., 2012), compared to statin
therapy alone. Results from two additional randomized clinical intervention trials are awaited (Cannon et al., 2010; Nicholls et al., 2011).
Importantly, before any of these novel therapies, potentially to be
used to lower remnant cholesterol/triglyceride levels, can reach clinical
use, they need to be documented to be efcacious in reducing remnant
cholesterol levels, to be largely free of side effects, and eventually to be
shown to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease, either as an add on to
statin therapy or by themselves in statin intolerant patients.
9. Conclusions and perspectives
In conclusion, evidence from observational studies, in-vitro and animal studies, and from genetic studies all support a causal association between elevated levels of remnant cholesterol and increased risk of IHD;
however, even though post-hoc subgroup analyses of randomized trials
using brates showed a benet of lowering triglycerides or remnant
cholesterol levels, large randomized clinical intervention trials with
the primary target of lowering remnant cholesterol levels are still missing. Such positive trials may open the possibility for further reducing
risk of IHD in many millions of high risk individuals worldwide.
Funding sources
The research of AV, MB and BGN are supported by The Danish
Council for Independent Research, Medical Sciences (FSS), The Danish
Heart Foundation, Herlev Hospital, Copenhagen University Hospital,
Copenhagen County Foundation, and Chief Physician Johan Boserup
and Lise Boserup's Fund, Denmark.
Conict of interest disclosures
BGN has received lecture and/or consultancy honoraria from
Omthera, Sano-Aventis/Regeneron, Aegerion, AstraZeneca, Amgen,
and ISIS Pharmaceuticals. AV and MB have no conicts of interest.

365

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