| | Dorlands Medical Dictionary |
 | | (lip”o-, li”po-pro´tēn) any of the lipid-protein complexes in which lipids are transported in the blood; lipoprotein particles consist of a spherical hydrophobic core of triglycerides or cholesteryl esters surrounded by an amphipathic monolayer of phospholipids, cholesterol, and apolipoproteins; the four principal classes are high-density, low-density, and very-low-density lipoproteins and chylomicrons. |
 | | It is formed in the circulation when very-low-density lipoproteins are degraded first to intermediate-density lipoproteins and then to LDL by the gain and loss of specific apolipoproteins and the loss of most of their triglycerides. |
 | | Synthesized by the liver, they contain primarily triglycerides in their lipid cores, with some cholesteryl esters; as their triglycerides are cleaved by endothelial lipoprotein lipase and transferred to extrahepatic tissues, the VLDL particles lose most of their apolipoprotein C and become intermediate-density lipoproteins. |
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