High cholesterol and low white blood cell count

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• Can high cholesterol cause low white blood cell count?
• Is cholesterol associated with white blood cells?
• What diseases lower your white blood cell count?
• What happens with a very low white blood count?

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December 18, 2017 | by Alison Sage, D.O.

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What, exactly, is the difference between HDL and LDL cholesterol (which one’s good)? And what are triglycerides?

Why should you care about how many white or red blood cells you have circulating?

Because your blood can tell you a lot about how healthy you are. There is so much information pumping through your veins. Doctors can see whether you’re diabetic, anemic or fighting an infection. They can gather clues to how well your liver, heart or thyroid is working.

Blood tests are often part of a routine check-up, as doctors analyze how your body is working. Unless you’re a medical professional, however, the results can be hard to decipher.
Let’s run down common lab tests. When you go to your primary care physician for a check-up, your doctor may want to do a blood draw to check your cholesterol, your blood count (how many red and white blood cells and platelets you have circulating), and a basic metabolic or chemistry panel.

• Lipid panel = cholesterol. Your doctor will order a lipid panel to get a picture of your cholesterol. Cholesterol is broken up into “good” (HDL) and “bad” (LDL). When LDL or “bad” cholesterol builds up in your arteries it can slow your blood flow, potentially leading to a heart attack or stroke. High cholesterol has no symptoms, so the blood test is vital. Triglycerides are a type of fat in your blood that’s different from cholesterol. If your triglycerides are high, they could contribute to hardening of your arteries the way high LDL cholesterol can. You want your HDL cholesterol to be higher than 45 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol per deciliter (dL) of blood. You want your LDL to be less than 130 mg/dL. Triglycerides should be less than 150 mg/dL, and your total cholesterol shouldn’t break 200 mg/dL. As Mayo Clinic reports, if you’re at an average risk of developing heart disease, it’s a good idea to get your cholesterol checked every five years starting at age 18.
• Complete blood count (CBC). This is a routine test to evaluate your general health. It can also detect a range of diseases, so doctors order this test to shed light on symptoms like fatigue or bruises. The CBC checks your levels of white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. White blood cells help fight infection, so you’d have a higher number if that’s the case. A high or low number of red blood cells could indicate different diseases. Platelets, which help your blood clot, outside a normal range could also indicate disease.
• Basic vs. complete/comprehensive metabolic panel. The basic metabolic panel tests your blood glucose (blood sugar), kidney function, and levels of calcium, sodium and potassium. The complete metabolic panel includes all those tests plus liver function tests. These tests could be ordered as part of a routine check-up or if your doctor wants to check for specific diseases.
• Thyroid function. This test checks the level of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in your blood. A high count could signify hypothyroidism; a low count, hyperthyroidism. Both conditions come with a host of symptoms, and this test can help your doctor rule out other diseases.

It’s important to find a physician you feel comfortable with and confident in, who partners with you in your personal health goals. Find the right Healthy Driven doctor for you.

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In a landmark study, scientists at Houston Methodist Research Institute discovered what makes white blood cell counts spike in individuals who have high cholesterol, possibly leading to new therapies for heart disease.

Led by Longhou Fang, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Center for Cardiovascular Regeneration, and his postdoctoral fellow Qilin Gu, Ph.D., the team looked at hypercholesterolemia, which is the type of high cholesterol that causes very high levels of LDL -- the so-called "bad" cholesterol -- to circulate in the blood.

They identified a new regulatory mechanism in zebrafish models responsible for this increase in white blood cells typically seen in people with these high LDL levels, which are known to increase a person's risk for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. and globally.

"Our findings may explain why this can happen," Fang said. "This mechanism we identified activates a protein called SREBP2 that in turn leads to the development of more hematopoietic stem cells (HSPCs), which are the precursors to white blood cells and the process by which all mature blood cells are produced. We were able to show that targeting this protein using its antagonist can reduce the HSPC counts to bring down the white blood cell counts. This insight may lead to a new strategy to treat atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease."

Additionally, Fang says finding this new pathway that controls the generation of HSPCs could be useful for treating blood disorders, such as leukemia and anemia, in the future. For instance, he says the plant-derived drug betulin, which is an SREBP2 inhibitor, could possibly be repurposed to mitigate the progression of leukemia. Even further down the line, he said this also holds promise for bone marrow regeneration using patient-derived hematopoietic stem cells, which would eliminate the need to find a donor.

Initially reported in an article titled "AIBP-mediated cholesterol efflux instructs hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell fate" in the journal Science, the study has since been cited by the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and Nature Reviews Cardiology.

In the NEJM editorial, the authors write, "This study certainly teaches us that cholesterol metabolism and inflammation are interconnected in the bone marrow environment through the transcription factor SREBP2." They go on to say, "The most notable aspect of the study...is the implication of 'cholesterol metabolism' genes in the biologic makeup of HSPCs. These findings provide support for the hypothesis that cholesterol metabolism is a driver of inflammation in cardiovascular disease."

Fang and his colleagues say their next steps are to continue exploring the role of cholesterol metabolism in hematopoiesis, saying that their findings bring them one step closer to their ultimate goal of generating patient-oriented HSPCs, which will be essential for the progress of regenerative and precision medicine.

Story Source:

Materials provided by Houston Methodist. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Can high cholesterol cause low white blood cell count?

Is cholesterol associated with white blood cells?

What diseases lower your white blood cell count?

What happens with a very low white blood count?