We examined the effects of adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL) on the initiation of
atherosclerosis. ATGL was recently identified as a rate-limiting triglyceride (TG) lipase.
Mutations in the human ATGL gene are associated with neutral lipid storage disease with
myopathy, a rare genetic disease characterized by excessive accumulation of TG in multiple
tissues. The cardiac phenotype, known as triglyceride deposit cardiomyovasculopathy,
shows massive TG accumulation in both coronary atherosclerotic lesions and the …