Cholesteryl ester
lipidCholesteryl esters accumulate in atherosclerotic plaques as the core lipid component, marking lipid-rich plaque burden and cardiovascular risk.
Pathway placement
Cascade stepLipid retention & oxidation
Confidencehigh
RationaleLipid core of retained LDL; marker of plaque lipid burden and stability.
Druggability
Not assessed (no mapped human gene target).
Type I vs Type II discrimination
ScoresLow-confidence (proxy)
R — rupture / Type-I60
C — confounder / Type-II63
A — assay feasibility40
E — evidence strength26
T1DI (composite)5
Specificity differential (R−C)-2.3
Confounder panel (Type-II drivers)
No confounder evidence retrieved.
Tier: light (literature co-occurrence proxy — lower confidence). See the discrimination table for all markers.
Assay & specimen
Class-level default (no specific cleared assay)— generic method inferred from analyte class; confirm against a specific product insert before use.
Specimen
Serum or plasma (EDTA to limit oxidation)
Collection tube
K2/K3-EDTA (lavender-top) · Serum separator (gold/red-top, SST)
Method / principle
LC-MS/MS lipidomics (targeted or shotgun)
Reagent / substrate
Deuterated lipid-class internal standards; MS/MS transitions
Platform
LC-MS/MS
Turnaround · availability
Research · Research-only
Literature evidence(4)
- Spatial lipidomics of coronary atherosclerotic plaque development in a familial hypercholesterolemia swine model.Journal of lipid research · 2024 · PMID 38246237 · doi
- Lipids associated with atherosclerotic plaque instability revealed by mass spectrometry imaging of human carotid arteries.Atherosclerosis · 2024 · PMID 39159550 · doi
- Deep Lipidomics in Human Plasma: Cardiometabolic Disease Risk and Effect of Dietary Fat Modulation.Circulation · 2022 · PMID 35422138 · doi
- Lipidomics Approach in High-Fat-Diet-Induced Atherosclerosis Dyslipidemia Hamsters: Alleviation Using Ether-Phospholipids in Sea Urchin.Journal of agricultural and food chemistry · 2021 · PMID 33961420 · doi