Cholesterol Total

Total cholesterol

Total cholesterol is the total content of free and esterified cholesterol in the blood serum.

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance that is produced in the liver and transported in the blood by lipoproteins. It is necessary for the normal functioning of cell membranes, the synthesis of bile acids, hormones and vitamin D.

Total cholesterol includes two main forms:

1. Free cholesterol is not associated with fatty acids and circulates in the blood as part of lipoproteins.

2. Cholesterol esters (esterified cholesterol) - cholesterol esterified (bound) with fatty acids. It is the main transport form in lipoproteins.

Determination of total cholesterol in the blood is necessary to assess the risk of developing atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Elevated levels of total cholesterol may indicate lipid metabolism disorders.

Cholesterol is an organic compound, a natural stimulator of the endocrine system of humans and animals, one of the most important fat-like substances in the body, necessary for the construction of cell membranes, the synthesis of blood clotting hormones - vitamin D, sex hormones, cortisol, adrenal hormones (cortisone, corticosterone, aldosterone) , thyroid hormones (calcitonin and triiodothyronine), insulin, cholesterol and other substances. Cholesterol also stimulates fat metabolism and other types of metabolism in tissues, activates the immune system, improves the absorption of many nutrients, and increases performance.

In general, as an antioxidant, it protects cell membranes and their lipids from the action of free radicals, thus preventing their damaging effects, promoting the formation of structural elements of cell membranes and their regeneration.

Among the beneficial properties of high cholesterol levels, an important place is occupied by its role in protein metabolism. Protein-lipid metabolism at the molecular level is regulated by multidirectional processes: the conversion of proteins supplied with food and synthesized in the body into glucose and various metabolic products and vice versa - complex organic products of carbohydrate metabolism into proteins. The role of hormones here is also played by lipoproteins and apolipoproteins. When the concentration of lipoproteins in the blood increases, the processes of protein synthesis predominate, and when the concentration decreases, protein breakdown prevails. From the same connection between fatty acids and proteins come the functions of sex hormones in the regulation of protein metabolism: androgens stimulate protein synthesis and inhibit the breakdown of estrogens and