Introduction and objectives: Dyslipidemia is frequently related to metabolic syndrome, which carries high cardiovascular risk. Statin therapy sometimes fails to achieve the recommended plasma lipid targets. The aim of this study was to evaluate the joint effect of ezetimibe and statin on lipid profile in dyslipidemic patients not achieving target values with statins alone and to determine the action of this combination on cardiovascular risk parameters, as well as its tolerability.
Methods: We performed a descriptive prospective study in 50 consecutive hypercholesterolemic patients treated with statin alone and with poor metabolic control. Lipid profile and plasma concentrations of insulin, ferritin and homocysteine were evaluated after 3 months of combined treatment with ezetimibe.
Results: We found a significant reductionin low density lipoproteins (p<0.001), a mean reduction in total cholesterol (p<0.001) and triglycerides (p=0.002), as well as decreases in plasma concentrations of ferritin (p=0,016), insulin (p=0,010) and homocysteine (p<0.001) of 5%, 5% and 14%, respectively. There were no changes in either hepatic or muscular function.
Conclusions: Combined treatment with ezetimibe and statin significantly improved lipid profile in poorly-controlled hypercholesterolemic patients treated with statin alone. There were no collateral effects on either hepatic or muscular parameters and there may be additional benefits on plasma levels of homocysteine, insulin and ferritin.
Copyright © 2008 Sociedad Española de Endocrinología y Nutrición. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.