People with high cholesterol have more of the immune peptide LL‑37 in their blood, and taking a common cholesterol drug (atorvastatin) brings those levels down. The study also found that higher LL‑37 is linked to higher good‑cholesterol (HDL).

Dyslipidemia in patients with hypercholesterolemia has been recently linked to increased human cathelicidin LL-37 (LL-37) serum concentration. We tested a hypothesis that upregulated expression of LL-37 gene in peripheral blood leucocytes is involved in dyslipidemia in patients with hypercholesteremia. Patients with hypercholesterolemia were used in the study. Expression of LL-37 and human glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase in peripheral blood leucocytes were quantified by real-time RT-PCR. Serum LL-37 concentration was estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum lipid levels were assessed by absorptiometry in all cases. Patients with hypercholesterolemia as compared to control ones were characterized by (a) an up-regulation of LL-37 gene expression in peripheral blood leucocytes with parallel increase of serum LL-37 concentration and (b) an increase of serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. Patients with hypercholesterolemia after a treatment with atorvastatin calcium 20 mg daily as compared to that patients before the treatment: an down-regulation of LL-37 gene expression in peripheral blood leucocytes with parallel decrease of serum LL-37 concentration. We also found significant correlation between serum LL-37 and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (r = 0.7290, P < 0.0001). The results suggest that hypercholesterolemia is associated with an increased LL-37 gene expression in peripheral blood leucocytes. The correlation between serum LL-37 and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels suggests that LL-37 may play a key role in regulation of cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolemia.