NPC1L1

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Mammalian protein found in Homo sapiens

title: "NPC1L1" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public description: "Mammalian protein found in Homo sapiens" topic_path: "uncategorized" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NPC1L1" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Mammalian protein found in Homo sapiens ::

Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1) is a protein found on the gastrointestinal tract's epithelial cells as well as in hepatocytes. Specifically, it appears to bind to a critical mediator of cholesterol absorption.

The drug ezetimibe inhibits NPC1L1 causing a reduction in cholesterol absorption, resulting in a blood cholesterol reduction of 15-20%. Polymorphic variations in the NPC1L1 gene could be associated with non-response to ezetimibe treatment. One study found that people with inactivating mutations in the NPC1L1 gene had a lower LDL cholesterol level, as well as an around 50% reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease.

NPC1L1 has been shown to be an accessory receptor for hepatitis C virus entry into cells, and thus ezetimibe might be used as a therapeutic strategy.

As cancer appeared more frequently in patients treated with simvastatin-ezetimibe combination therapy in one clinical trial, it had been hypothesized that NPC1L1 inhibition by ezetimibe might be associated with an increased cancer risk. However, a meta-analysis of ezetimibe clinical data showed no increase in the risk of cancer from treatment with ezetimibe.

References

References

  1. (June 2005). "The target of ezetimibe is Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
  2. (July 2007). "Hepatic Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 regulates biliary cholesterol concentration and is a target of ezetimibe". The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
  3. (June 2007). "Zetia: inhibition of Niemann-Pick C1 Like 1 (NPC1L1) to reduce intestinal cholesterol absorption and treat hyperlipidemia". Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis.
  4. {{UniProt Full. Q9UHC9. Niemann-Pick C1-like protein 1 precursor - Homo sapiens (Human)
  5. (2014-11-27). "Inactivating mutations in NPC1L1 and protection from coronary heart disease". The New England Journal of Medicine.
  6. (January 2012). "Identification of the Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 cholesterol absorption receptor as a new hepatitis C virus entry factor". Nature Medicine.
  7. (September 2008). "Intensive lipid lowering with simvastatin and ezetimibe in aortic stenosis". The New England Journal of Medicine.
  8. (September 2008). "Analyses of cancer data from three ezetimibe trials". The New England Journal of Medicine.
  9. (December 2015). "Safety and efficacy of ezetimibe: A meta-analysis". International Journal of Cardiology.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::