GIBH Discovered The Regulatory Roles Played By Cholesterol Level On Receptor Functions

Dr. Zheng’s group in GIBH has discovered that low cholesterol level can impair the signaling transduction and the in vivo functions of µ-opioid receptor in HEK cell models, primary cultures of hippocampal neurons, and in adult mice. After the cooperation with China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, they have indentified an inverse correlation between cholesterol levels and fentanyl usage amounts in surgery patients. The results have been published ahead of print on Journal of Lipid Research recently (doi: 10.1194/jlr.M024455).

Although it has been reported that the high cholesterol level can increase the possibility of cardiovascular diseases, current research suggested that the cholesterol level below normal will also lead to severe side effects, like the impairments in receptor functions. Since more than 40% drugs on the market target to the G protein coupled receptor (µ-opioid receptor is a classic one), the possible drug-drug interaction between these drugs and cholesterol should be considered in clinic.