A new research presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Toronto on Sunday may be an answer to why cholesterol levels go high in a person. The authors of the study at the Hamilton's McMaster University say that resistin is most probably the reason for the same.

The team has told that resistin is kind of a protein, which is secreted by fat tissue. The same produces bad cholesterol in liver cells of a human. Bad cholesterol is low-density lipoprotein or LDL, the report has found. It has been further informed that the secretion results in decreased ability of liver to clear out bad cholesterol.

The report finds that 40% people taking statins are the ones who resist to their impact on lowering blood LDL. Otherwise, the protein boosts the amount of LDL in arteries, thereby causing an increased risk of heart ailments.

"The bigger implication of our results is that high blood resistin levels may be the cause of the inability of statins to lower patients' LDL cholesterol", senior author Dr. Shirya Rashid said.

It is being believed that the findings may help in the development of new therapeutic drugs that target resistin and also boost the impact of statins.