What Are Forward Cholesterol Transports?

Forward cholesterol transports refer to low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) that carry cholesterol throughout the blood and body.

Significance

• Cholesterol and other fats are unable to dissolve in blood, requiring two different forms of circulatory transport vehicles called lipoproteins to move them along.

Identification

• LDLs and high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) perform the same service but in different manners. LDLs carry cholesterol through arteries to cells, and HDLs remove excess cholesterol for disposal.

Effects

• LDLs account for approximately 75 percent of blood cholesterol transportation. "If too much LDL cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the walls of the arteries feeding the heart and brain," says the American Heart Association.

Function

• The journey of LDL along the bloodstream for bodily necessity is called "forward transport," while the phrase "reverse transport" describes the HDL process of transferring cholesterol out of the system.

Considerations

• HDL is considered the "good" type of cholesterol and LDL the "bad" type. "'Good' HDL can pick up the soft, waxy cholesterol deposited on arteries by 'bad' LDL and deliver it to the liver for disposal in bile," according to an article published by Columbia University's Department of Health Sciences.