RESEARCH Impact of currently prescr o

n-Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a secreted protease synthesized mainly in the liver, which hypercholesterolemia and premature cardiovascular dis-ease [3,4]. Conversely, loss-of-function mutations of the Zhang et al. Lipids in Health and Disease 2014, 13:35 http://www.lipidworld.com/content/13/1/35binding protein 2 (SREBP-2), which is a transcriptionof Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, BeiLiShi Road 167, Beijing 100037, Chinabinds directly to the epidermal growth factor repeat A of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and subse-quently targets it for degradation [1]. This process re-sults in increased serum LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in the circulation [2]. Gain-of-function mutations in the PCSK9 gene linked to low LDL-C levels and a dramatic-ally reduced risk for coronary heart disease [5]. There-fore, PCSK9 has been considered as another target for dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis [6]. Recently, several studies indicated that statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) could upregulate PCSK9 levels in humans [7-9], which may attenuate the beneficial effects of statins [10]. It was recently postulated that sta-tins increase the activity of sterol regulator element