GC: n

S: MEDLP – http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cholesterol.html (last access: 15 December 2013); http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cholesterol/pages/introduction.aspx (last access: 5 November 2016).

N: 1. white, solid substance present in body tissues, 1894, earlier cholesterin, from French cholestrine (Chevreul, 1827), from Greek khole “bile” (see cholera) + steros “solid, stiff” (see sterility). So called because originally found in gallstones (Conradi, 1775). The name was changed to the modern form (with chemical suffix -ol, denoting an alcohol) after the compound was discovered to be a secondary alcohol.
2. Waxy substance that is present in blood plasma and in all animal tissues.
3. Chemically, cholesterol is an organic compound belonging to the steroid family; its molecular formula is C27H46O. In its pure state it is a white, crystalline substance that is odourless and tasteless.
4. Cholesterol is essential to life; it is a primary component of the membrane that surrounds each cell, and it is the starting material or an intermediate compound from which the body synthesizes bile acids, steroid hormones, and vitamin D. Cholesterol circulates in the bloodstream and is synthesized by the liver and several other organs. Human beings also ingest considerable amounts of cholesterol in the course of a normal diet. A compensatory system regulates the amount of cholesterol synthesized by the liver, with the increased dietary intake of cholesterol resulting in the liver’s decreased synthesis of the compound.
5. High levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream are an extremely important cause of atherosclerosis. In this disorder, deposits of cholesterol and other fatty substances circulating in the blood accumulate in the interior walls of the blood vessels.
6. Most (cholesterol) is synthesized by the liver and other tissues, but some is absorbed from dietary sources, with each kind transported in plasma by specific lipoproteins.

S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=choLESTEROL&searchmode=none (last access: 3 September 2014). 2 to 5. EncBrit – http://global.britannica.com/science/cholesterol (last access: 7 July 2015). 6. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 7 July 2015).

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CR: cholesterolemia, glucagon, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol.