**Meet the editor**

Dr. Madan L. Nagpal has been a research associate professor at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, and a research chemist at the Dorn Veterans Medical Center, Columbia, SC, USA, for more than 10 years. He has published several scientific articles. He was awarded Research and Productive Scholarship 1990 by the

University of South Carolina. He was funded as coinvestigator by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and VA Merit Review grants. Dr. Nagpal contributions include development of technologies in understanding the gene regulation in steroid hormone biosynthesis and the characterization of *Bacillus* species. He is a member of the American Society of Cell Biology, American Association of Advancement of Science, Endocrine Society, American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, International Who's Who Professionals, and Marquis Who's Who in America.

Contents

**Preface VII**

Zhang

**Section 1 Cholesterol Features: Structural and Functional 1**

Chapter 2 **Hormonal Regulation of Cholesterol Homeostasis 19** Zhuo Mao, Jinghui Li and Weizhen Zhang

Chapter 3 **Role of Membrane Cholesterol in Modulating Actin Architecture and Cellular Contractility 33**

Chapter 4 **Vascular Inflammation and Genetic Predisposition as Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases 57**

Chapter 5 **Role of Pleural Fluid Cholesterol in Pleural Effusion 75**

Chapter 6 **Role of Cholesterol as a Risk Factor in Cardiovascular**

Eyup Avci, Ahmet Dolapoglu and Didar Elif Akgun

Chapter 7 **The Role of Cholesterol in the Pathogenesis of Hypertension-Associated Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis 109** Yuan Yuan, Hisao Naito and Tamie Nakajima

Barbara Hissa and Bruno Pontes

Zeynep Banu Gungor

Achyut Bikram Hamal

**Section 2 Cholesterol and the Heart 93**

**Diseases 95**

**Cholesterol Transport 3**

Chapter 1 **Structural Basis and Functional Mechanism of Lipoprotein in**

Zhiwei Yang, Dongxiao Hao, Yizhuo Che, Lei Zhang and Shengli
