Prof. Dr. Eicke Latz from the Institute of Innate Immunity at the University of Bonn is studying how crystalline cholesterol causes massive immune responses and leads to life-threatening inflammation in arterial walls. In 2010, he published a study in the renowned journal "Nature" on the connection between atherosclerosis and the immune system. In this study, the team of researchers working with Prof. Latz demonstrated that cholesterol crystals can activate an important receptor complex of the innate immune system and thus increase the inflammatory response in artherosclerosis. This caught Chris Hempel's attention and she reported her experiences with cyclodextrin to the immunologist.

With an international team of researchers from Germany, the USA, Norway, Australia and Sweden, the scientists from a variety of fields from the University Hospital Bonn, under the direction of Prof. Latz, investigated whether cyclodextrin also has an effect on atherosclerosis. The researchers fed a particularly cholesterol-rich diet to mice for eight weeks and subcutaneously injected the animals with cyclodextrin. "They were far less affected by plaques in their blood vessels than a control group who did not receive any cyclodextrin," says Dr. Sebastian Zimmer from the Department of Medicine II of the University Hospital Bonn. The ring-shaped sugars apparently program the cells in a way that leads to better elimination of excess crystalline cholesterol and also to a reduction in the inflammation in blood vessels at the same time.