Cleveland Clinic uncovers new HDL findings

Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland) have identified the region within high density lipoprotein (HDL), the major carrier of “good” cholesterol, that can become dysfunctional within the artery wall, inhibiting the body's ability to fight cholesterol buildup.

The findings are important because raising HDL levels represents a major target for new treatment strategies of atherosclerosis, the accumulation of harmful plaque in the arteries, by the pharmaceutical industry. Yet it appears that the function as well as the level of the HDL is important. This may also help explain research earlier this year which found that despite raising the level of HDL (good) cholesterol, the drug torcetrapib did not slow the progression of artery disease.

Cleveland Clinic is a not-for-profit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education.

U-Systems launches new web site

U-Systems (San Jose, California) reported the launch of a new web site in women’s health and breast imaging, http://www.U-Systems.com. With the advent of U-Systems automated breast ultrasound with SomoSynthesis, the company said that radiologists now have standardized, reproducible, 3-D views of the breast, enabling improved diagnostic confidence.

SomoSynthesis combines wide field of view, automated image acquisition with advanced 3-D image reconstruction and interpretation. The result, according to the company, is better tissue visualization, especially in the coronal view.