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11 July 2005
Bad Cholesterol, It's In The Genes 
A new study by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) has found that no matter what the lifestyle, people's genes play an overriding role in the way their bodies handle cholesterol. The study, appearing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, looked at identical twins, their lifestyles and how their metabolisms processed "bad" cholesterol (low-density, or LDL cholesterol). "Although identical twins share exactly the same genes, we chose these twins because they had very different lifestyles," said researcher Paul Williams. "One member of each pair was a regular long-distance runner. His brother clocked 40 kilometers a week less, at least, if he exercised at all." Over six weeks, the twins ate either a high-fat diet or a low-fat diet; then the pairs switched diets for another six weeks. After each six-week period the twins' blood cholesterol levels were tested. The researchers wanted to see if blood cholesterol changes due to the different diets would be the same or different in each pair of genetically identical twins, even though their lifestyles were very different. The researchers found an incredibly strong similarity in the way each pair of twins responded, despite the fact that one regularly exercised and the other didn't. "If one of the twins could eat a high-fat diet without increasing his bad cholesterol, then so could his brother," said Williams. "But if one of the twins' LDL cholesterol shot up when they went on the high-fat diet, his brother's did too." The research showed that some twins had one or more genes that made them very sensitive to the amount of fat in their diets. Other twins had genes that made them insensitive to dietary fat, no matter how much they exercised. "Our experiment shows how important our genes are," said Williams. "Some people have to be careful about their diets, while others have much more freedom in their dietary choices."
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