Early epidemiological studies have found that lower level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) is closely associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. This prompts a high density lipoprotein anti-atherosclerosis hypothesis:compared to low density lipoprotein cholesterol, HDLC is “good” cholesterol, and increased serum HDLC level may reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. However, new studies have found that elevated HDLC level does not reduce the occurrence of cardiovascular events. This makes the high density lipoprotein anti-atherosclerosis hypothesis be questioned. Recently, the relationship between high density lipoprotein function rather than HDLC level and atherosclerosis has been paid more attention. Latest related research of high density lipoprotein is described in this paper.