2026 Workshop Programme

Sepsis and cardiovascular disease share a hidden driver: chronic exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). While often labelled a risk, elevated cholesterol and specific lipoprotein patterns may represent a life-saving defence'acting as the body's first firewall, before it can activate TLR4 and ignite a destructive inflammatory cascade. Most circulating LPS is carried on HDL and LDL particles, leaving measurable fingerprints across cardiovascular biomarkers. Disease-free centenarians exhibit strikingly low endotoxin levels compared to 'healthy' adults decades younger, reframing how we interpret lipid panels, inflammation, and aging. This session reveals how LPS accumulation distorts oxLDL, MPO, Lp-PLA2, ApoB, LDL and HDL function'often without elevating CRP'and provides clinicians with actionable strategies to identify endotoxin-driven vascular risk and intervene before chronic inflammation, atherosclerosis, sepsis, or death take hold.