Abstract 14059: Lycopene Reduces Formation of Cholesterol Crystals and Accelerates Their Dissolution

Introduction: Cholesterol crystals are one of the main culprits behind the rupture of atherosclerotic plaque and resultant thrombosis, the process responsible for the development of heart attack and ischemic stroke, the world’s leading causes of mortality. Today there are no drugs or treatment able to target these crystals. Hypothesis/Objectives and Methods: Effect of lycopene on the growth of cholesterol crystals was investigated. A study was also made on the effect of this carotenoid on the dissolution of already formed cholesterol crystals in vitro and in human atherosclerotic plaques. Results: It was found that lycopene was directly able to disrupt, slow down and facilitate the reversal of the cholesterol crystallisation process. In in vitro experiments, lycopene delayed the time of the beginning of the process by 8 fold and its rate of this process itself by 5 fold. In addition it was able to reduce the cholesterol mass involved into crystallisation by 60%, fig. 1. Even when the cholesterol crystals were formed in the presence of lycopene their size was significantly smaller than when the crystals grew undisrupted, fig. 2. This effect could be observed in a ratio of 1 molecule of lycopene to 1,000-10,000 molecules of cholesterol, which indicates that these two molecules can create a thermodynamically favourable complex, which triggers a long-range ordering transition in their folding. Conclusion: The presented findings provide a sound rationale for future studies of lycopene on its potential prevention of cholesterol crystal formation and facilitation of their disassembly in patients with clinical complications of atherosclerosis.