What is skin cholesterol and how does it correlate to CAD?
Skin contains 11% of all cholesterol in the body.2 The main sources of skin cholesterol are epithelial steroidogenesis and cholesterol diffusion from circulation via LDL and SR-B1 receptors. Since it is a measurement of actual cholesterol deposition in tissues, the level of skin cholesterol may more accurately reflect the extent of atherosclerosis than the amount of serum cholesterol. In addition, increases in the size of aortic plaques correlate with the amount of cholesterol in the skin.3 The skin, like the blood vessels, accumulates cholesterol with age. Thus skin tissue cholesterol is a surrogate marker for atherosclerosis. The PREVU* POC Skin Sterol Test employs a synthetic copolymer conjugated with digitonin and horseradish peroxidase to detect and quantify the amount of skin cholesterol (predominantly skin tissue cholesterol) in the epidermis.
