University at Albany epidemiologist Dr. Michael Bloom and three fellow researchers have released a study on how the “good cholesterol” may play a role within the ovarian follicle in pre-programming an egg for successful pregnancy or failure. The report, published online in Fertility and Sterility, studies variability in the components of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) between follicles within a woman and how this variation relates to differences in levels between different women. Human ‘follicular fluid’ that bathes an immature egg cell (oocyte) is a complex mixture of lipids, proteins, hormone, micronutrients, and other molecules. HDL is the only lipoprotein identified in this follicular fluid.