very low density lipoprotein

5.4

A blood particle that carries fat from the liver to body tissues and can become LDL cholesterol

noun
/ˈvɛri loʊ ˈdɛnˌsɪti ˌlaɪpəˈproʊtin/

Specialized

: lipoproteína de muy baja densidad

High levels of very low density lipoprotein in the blood can increase the risk of heart disease.

Examples

VLDL, or very low density lipoprotein, is mostly packed with fatty molecules, including triglycerides and cholesterol.
VLDL, or very low density lipoprotein, helps transport fats from the liver to various tissues in the body.
Doctors often monitor the levels of very low density lipoprotein to assess a patient's lipid profile.

Synonyms

VLDL

vsvery low density lipoprotein

Specialized

1 8.2

A particle in the blood that carries fat to body tissues and becomes LDL

is the full descriptive name rather than the short letter form

Surface Forms

very low density lipoprotein singular

very low density lipoproteins plural

Morphology

very + low + density + lipoprotein

The phrase is a straightforward compositional modification: 'very' + 'low' + 'density' describes the density property of 'lipoprotein', so a learner who knows the component meanings can infer it denotes a lipoprotein that has very low density. Although the term denotes a specific biomedical category, its meaning is directly built from the constituents and follows normal adjective-noun composition, making it transparent to learners who know the parts.

Etymology

Very low density lipoprotein comes from a simple lab picture: in a fast-spinning machine these tiny particles floated near the top because they were mostly 'fat', so scientists called them very low density and, since they are made of fat plus protein, lipoprotein. So the name shows that very low density lipoprotein are large, fat-rich particles that carry fat in the blood and can later become LDL, which is linked to heart disease.