Anti-Cholesterol Drug

• Manufacturer: Emrys Industries
• Price: 20 KS per dose.

While the Human and more recently NH-22C Yamataian population of the Yamatai Star Empire are naturally resistant to both cholesterol and obesity, Nepleslians do not enjoy the same blessed status. Worse their culture is one where these present a serious threat – leading to heart disease among other things.

Having already tackled obesity to some degree with an earlier drug, Emrys Industries now turned its attention to cholesterol and developed this drug to combat the condition of high cholesterol.

The drug functions through a process called ‘RNA interference’ or RNAi which in effect switches off certain genes which produce negative effects. In this case the drug goes to the liver and silences the gene that manufactures low-density lipoprotein, the cholesterol most responsible for the clogging of arteries and as such the main cholesterol based source of heart disease.

The RNAi process blocks the genes by way of the use of ‘small interfering RNAs’ or siRNAs which contain a partion of the gene sequence written back to front. The drug is delivered through the standard Emrys Industries drug delivery capsule, and once delivered in to the skin the RNAi slivers are delivered to the liver by their fatty packaging of liposomes which are capable of infiltrating liver cells by fusing with the bylayer of the cells membrane through a process of lipofection.

After an injection of the drug the genes activity is reduced by 90% over a two day period. Cholesterol levels (that is of all types of cholesterol) drop by around 60-65% with low density lipoprotein falling by 80-85%. The percentage could be higher, and the drug more efficient, but this was decided against for health reasons. Some cholesterol is a good thing. The effect lasts for approximately thirty days, but it is recommended that it is taken once a month.

Approved by Wes on August 2, 2006 https://stararmy.com/roleplay-forum/index.php?threads/emrys-industries-anti-cholesterol-drug.13061/#post-188550