I wonder how this would look if we consider LDL, HDL and triglycerides individually... Perhaps that would be more telling than just considering total cholesterol.
Manganese also affects cholesterol. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3705654/ "a favourable influence of manganese was shown which effected a decrease of the cholesterol content of serum, liver and aorta and inhibited the entry of lipids into the aorta. The influence of the manganese on various enzymes as well as a manganese-copper interaction are discussed as possible causes." Manganese is one of those minerals in constant decline from birth when Reactive Oxygen Species starts, before then we all get about 9months to build up levels in the body, provided the mother is healthy and has an healthy diet.
And there isnt much discussion on the content of HDL. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-density_lipoprotein#Overv...
And on the point of macrophage accumulation, no mention of how vit K1 keeps calcium out of tissue which prevents elastic fibres from hardening and thus causing their own problems.
Thing is whatever science looks at can be portrayed in a positive or negative light.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryptophan#/media/File:Tryptop... Tryptophan -> 5HTP -> Serotonin Tryptophan -> Nicotinic acid -> Niacinamide
One thing they dont mention about nicotinic acid is it will soften your bones possibly because prostaglandins uses calcium inside the cell to rebind DNA. So then it becomes a case of take some K2-mk4 to help repair your bones, and thats when people are forced to explore the chemical pathways inside their bodies to compensate for other effects which perhaps they dont want.
So it appears that you can drive LDL levels quite low without harm.