Cholesterol and Its Journey Over the Centuries (1769−2025): The Highlights and Challenges

Cholesterol is a beneficial lipid molecule considering its multifunctional roles to support physiological homeostasis and the progression of biological system at various levels, namely, membrane integrity, cushioning quality, nutrient skill, as well as its ventures as metabolic forerunner, for example, precursor of bile acids and bile salts, vitamin D, steroid hormones, and so on. On the other hand, excess load of cholesterol in systemic compartments, for example, blood vessels, and intracellular or intraorganellar rooms may end up with serious detrimental consequences, namely, heart attack, diabetes, carcinogenesis, and organ or organelle storage disorders. With this view, cholesterol is a biotic handler of both bright and dark edges. Since its discovery, cholesterol has been sequeled with differential challenges of the life process, either advantageous or disadvantageous. Advantageous features are associated with essential physiological processes, and disadvantageous attributes are the marks of metabolic malfunctioning from the incidents cropped up either by its overuse or from multifactorial circumstantial interferences, for example, carcinogens, obesity, inflammation, therapeutic side effects, and so on.