Total cholesterol

lipid

Circulating total cholesterol, particularly in apoB-lipoproteins, drives subendothelial lipid retention and plaque formation.

Pathway placement

Cascade stepLipid retention & oxidation

Confidencehigh

RationalePrimary atherogenic lipid burden; CAD risk correlation.

Druggability

Not assessed (no mapped human gene target).

Type I vs Type II discrimination

ScoresType-II-associated

R — rupture / Type-I

—

C — confounder / Type-II

A — assay feasibility

E — evidence strength

T1DI (composite)

Specificity differential (R−C)-43.3

Confounder panel (Type-II drivers)

1sepsis / systemic inflammationmag 2

2anemia / acute blood lossn/a

3hypovolemia / dehydrationn/a

4tachyarrhythmiamag 1

5hypoxemia / respiratory failuremag 2

6hypertensive emergencymag 2

7high-demand / peri-operative stressn/a

Coverage: 4/7 confounders with evidence

Tier: deep-scored (abstract-extracted) · 23 supporting references. See the discrimination table for all markers.

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