Year | Discoverer/Scientist | Event/Occurrence | Comment |
1913 | Nicholai Anichkov | Observed vascular lesions in rabbits fed with purified cholesterol dissolved in Sunflower oil. | This observation was unknown to the West until 1933. |
1950 | John Gofman | Segregation of low and high-density lipoproteins using centrifugal device. | |
1950s | John Gofman | Multicenter study of lipoprotein in human plasma. | Correlation made between cholesterol and atherosclerosis. |
1972 | Smith & Slater | Measured LDL in artery walls and compared with serum cholesterol levels. | Association between LDL cholesterol and atherosclerosis. |
1979 | Goldstein et al. | Discovery of receptor site for LDL and binding site on macrophages leading to degradation of LDL. | Helped reinforce the lipid theory of atherosclerosis. |
1981 | Henriksen et al. | Postulated that changes in the endothelium allows LDL uptake and foam cells formation. | Hypothesis of the oxidative modification of LDL. |
1983, 1984 | Hessler et al.; Steinbreecher et al. | Cell culture and in vitro studies confirmed LDL undergoing oxidative modification in endothelial cells. | Confirmed the hypothesis and hence the beginning of the OxLDL theory of atherosclerosis. |
1987 | FDA approved the registration of statin. | Statins work by inhibiting the HMG CoA reductase production in the liver. |