The article in Clinical Chemistry also provides future directions, because HDL particles do not simply transport cholesterol. HDL particles comprise many proteins that are involved in physiology, immunity, anti-infective, and antioxidant roles.
In the next summit, we focused on one aspect of HDL functionality, reverse cholesterol transport. What does reverse cholesterol transport mean and how do we translate this into human disease? The amount of cholesterol that is effluxed from the macrophage represents a small amount of the cholesterol cargo carried in HDL particles, and this process can occur in the absence of fecal sterol excretion. It turns out that the majority of the cholesterol carried in HDL particles derives from CETP mediated lipid exchange.
J Clin Lipidol. 2011; 5(6).