"An IV infusion of good HDL cholesterol https seems to rapidly remove cholesterol https out of plaqueclogged arteries https following a heart attack https a small early study suggests. The goal of the new treatment is to reduce the high risk of a second heart attack https in people who have had a heart attack https In the year after a heart attack https about  of people have a second heart attack or stroke https And half of them happen in the first month says researcher Andreas Gille MD PhD. Gille is head of clinical and translational science strategy at CSL Limited which funded the study in Parkville Australia. Standard heart https attack medications https such as aspirin https and anticlotting drugs prevent clotting but dont eliminate an underlying factor cholesterol https that has built up on artery https walls he says. HDL removes cholesterol https from artery walls but current HDLboosting drugs such as niacin https and fibrates take years to work according to Gille. Study Results Gille and colleagues tested CSL an infusible and natural human formulation of apolipoprotein A ApoA in  healthy volunteers. ApoA is the key protein in HDL particles that transports cholesterol from arteries and other tissues into the liver https for disposal. Think of it as a garbage truck It picks up the debris and disposes of it at the dump. Following a single infusion of CSL researchers looked for signs of cholesterol movement. Over the next two hours  Cholesterol removal from cells rose .  Levels of ApoA doubled. In contrast levels of ApoA only rise about  in the four weeks after niacin https is given Gille says. There were no serious side effects. Robert Eckel MD of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center says the strategy is potentially useful. The question is how important is it to address HDL levels quickly vs. treating them longterm. We still dont know enough about HDL to know how to modify it to best benefit patients Eckel says. The findings were presented here at the American Heart https Associations Scientific Sessions . The next step is a larger study in which CSL will be given as a short series of weekly IV infusions shortly following a heart attack or heartrelated chest pain https These findings were presented at a medical conference. They should be considered preliminary as they have not yet undergone the peer review process in which outside experts scrutinize the data prior to publication in a medical journal."