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Fig. 2 | Nutrition & Metabolism

Fig. 2

From: Tocotrienol is a cardioprotective agent against ageing-associated cardiovascular disease and its associated morbidities

Fig. 2

Tocotrienols lower cholesterol via 2 distinct mechanisms that ultimately operate on reducing the function of HMG-CoA reductase in catalysing the rate limiting step in cholesterol biosynthesis, as opposed to statins that have one mechanism of action, competitive inhibition by mimicking the native substrate HMG Co-A and binding the active site of HMG-CoA reductase. Mechanism 1 involves increasing the conversion of farnesyl diphosphate to farnesol, and this intermediate in turn accelerates the degradation of HMG Co-A reductase. Mechanism 2 involves a posttranscriptional means of regulation, by inhibiting the translation of HMG Co-A reductase mRNA. Both these mechanisms converge on HMG co-A reductase, the key rate-limiting enzymatic step in cholesterol biosynthesis

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