BACKGROUND Extra-lipid effects of ezetimibe, a new lipid-lowering agent, are so far poorly understood. METHODS Twenty-two patients with elevated total and LDL cholesterol levels, statin-intolerant or having contraindications to statin therapy, were treated with ezetimibe (10mg daily) for 90 days. Plasma levels of lipids, apolipoproteins, glucose homeostasis markers, leptin, adiponectin, visfa...

AIM To gain further insight into intestinal cholesterol homeostasis in dyslipidaemic men with insulin resistance (IR) by examining the impact of treatment with ezetimibe on the expression of key genes involved in cholesterol synthesis and LDL receptor (R)-mediated uptake of lipoproteins. METHODS A total of 25 men with dyslipidaemia and IR were recruited to participate in this double-blind, ra...

AIMS/INTRODUCTION Ezetimibe lowers serum lipid levels by inhibiting intestinal absorption of dietary and biliary cholesterol. However, the effect of ezetimibe on insulin resistance remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to examine this issue in patients with metabolic syndrome in local-dwelling Japanese, who were not being treated with lipid-lowering drugs. MATERIALS AND METHODS In...

CONTEXT An estimated 10% to 20% of patients cannot tolerate statins or adequate doses to achieve treatment goals. Plasma proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) binds to low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors, promoting their degradation and increasing LDL cholesterol levels. In phase 1 studies, a human monoclonal antibody to PCSK9, AMG145, was well tolerated and reduced LDL chol...

Aims To elucidate the effects of intensive LDL-C lowering treatment with a standard dose of statin and ezetimibe in patients with dyslipidaemia and high risk of coronary events, targeting LDL-C less than 70 mg/dL (1.8 mmol/L), compared with standard LDL-C lowering lipid monotherapy targeting less than 100 mg/dL (2.6 mmol/L). Methods and results The HIJ-PROPER study is a prospective, randomize...

BACKGROUND Nitric oxide (NO) has been largely associated with cardiovascular protection through improvement of endothelial function. Recently, new evidence about modulation of NO release by microRNAs (miRs) has been reported, which could be involved with statin-dependent pleiotropic effects, including anti-inflammatory properties related to vascular endothelium function. OBJECTIVE To evaluate...

Ezetimibe [1-(4-fluorophenyl)-3(R)-[3-(4-fluorophenyl)-3(S)-hydroxypropyl]-4(S)-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-azetidinone] (Zetia; Schering-Plough, Kenilworth, NJ) is the first in a new class of cholesterol-lowering agents known as cholesterol absorption inhibitors. The objective of this study was to identify the isoform(s) of human liver and intestinal UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes responsib...

permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. When platelets are activated, they increase in size and change from a quiescent disc to a swollen sphere. Large platelets are more reactive and likely aggregate more than small ones. 1 Mean platelet volume (MPV), an indicator of platelet size and activation , has ...

BACKGROUND Treatment added to statin monotherapy to further modify the lipid profile may include combination therapy to either raise the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol level or further lower the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol level. METHODS We enrolled patients who had coronary heart disease or a coronary heart disease risk equivalent, who were receiving long-term stati...

BACKGROUND Five years of statin therapy lowers low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol substantially and, over a 5-year period, results in reductions in the incidence of cardiovascular events. The Simvastatin and Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis (SEAS) trial (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00092677) has raised the hypothesis that adding ezetimibe to statin therapy for larger LDL cholesterol reduct...