News
Circulating PCSK9 critical for regulating postprandial lipaemia
Data from an experimental model provide support for clinically relevant effects of PCSK9 inhibitors in reducing postprandial lipaemia, especially in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Elevated postprandial lipaemia is an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (1). In previous studies using a mouse…
read more »
More from The Treat Stroke to Target (TST) trial: greater regression of atherosclerosis at lower LDL-C
Attaining lower LDL cholesterol levels in patients with ischaemic stroke of atherosclerotic origin led to greater regression of carotid atherosclerosis compared with those at higher LDL cholesterol levels. The results lend further support for lower LDL cholesterol levels in stroke patients. With uncertainty around specific…
read more »
Evolocumab versus ezetimibe: Further data to guide clinical decision making
Evolocumab outperformed ezetimibe in terms of efficacy and achievement of lipid goals, according to this latest pooled analysis of Phase 3 studies in the PROFICIO development program for evolocumab. High-intensity statin treatment is the cornerstone of lipid lowering therapy for patients at high- and very…
read more »
ORION-2 with inclisiran in homozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia
First reported at the 87th European Atherosclerosis Society Congress in Maastricht, The Netherlands, the ORION-2 study has now been published. ORION-2 was an open-label, proof-of-concept study that investigated inclisiran, an siRNA therapeutic targeting PCSK9, in four patients with a clinical or genetic diagnosis of homozygous…
read more »
Pooled analyses confirm benefit of PCSK9 inhibitors on secondary lipid targets
Guidelines for managing dyslipidemia have emphasized the use of non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, apolipoprotein (Apo)B and lipoprotein(a) for risk stratification (1,2). Two new pooled analyses provide information about the effects of evolocumab and alirocumab on these secondary targets. While LDL cholesterol is the primary lipid…
read more »
ODYSSEY OUTCOMES economics study reinforces highest risk-highest benefit premise
Alirocumab treatment in the acute coronary syndrome (ACS) setting was best-value in statin-treated patients with persistently elevated LDL cholesterol levels (≥100 mg/dL or 2.6 mmol/L), according to this analysis. The ODYSSEY OUTCOMES Investigators used patient-level data to assess the cost-effectiveness of alirocumab treatment over a…
read more »
ODYSSEY ALTERNATIVE follow-up: Sustained LDL lowering in statin-intolerant patients
Follow-up over 3 years after the main ODYSSEY ALTERNATIVE trial showed that alirocumab treatment led to durable LDL cholesterol lowering and was safe in statin-intolerant patients. Before the advent of the PCSK9 inhibitors, attaining LDL cholesterol goal in patients unable to tolerate statin treatment was…
read more »
No adverse effects of very low LDL cholesterol on cognition: further data from FOURIER
Data from the entire 22,655-patient cohort of the FOURIER study provide further reassurance that the addition of the PCSK9 inhibitor evolocumab to maximally tolerated statin therapy did not impact patient-reported cognition. The safety of very low levels that are attainable with a PCSK9 inhibitor has…
read more »
EVOLVD trial in heart transplant recipients
The Cholesterol lowering with EVOLocumab to prevent cardiac allograft Vasculopathy in De-novo heart transplant recipients (EVOLVD) trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03734211) aims to show whether treatment with evolocumab can ameliorate cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) over the first year after heart transplant. Cardiac allograft vasculopathy is an…
read more »
New FOURIER analysis supports aggressive LDL lowering in patients with a recent MI
In this latest FOURIER analysis, add-on evolocumab treatment in patients with a recent myocardial infarction (MI) produced 3-fold greater absolute reduction in cardiovascular risk. These findings confirm 2018 US guideline recommendations for adding a PCSK9 inhibitor in very high-risk patients with elevated LDL cholesterol (≥70…
read more »
LDL cholesterol goals go even lower in India
A statement from the Lipid Association of India proposes aggressive LDL cholesterol lowering for individuals at high and very high risk of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is now the leading cause of mortality in India, responsible for one-quarter of all deaths (1). A number…
read more »
Does PCSK9 inhibition reduce the risk of venous thromboembolism?
According to a new analysis from the FOURIER trial, a reduced risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is an additional benefit from PCSK9 inhibition in very high-risk patients. Lipoprotein(a) may be a key mediator of this effect. There are mixed observational data for a link between…
read more »
ODYSSEY OUTCOMES – Alirocumab reduces risk for peripheral artery disease
A new analysis from ODYSSEY OUTCOMES shows that alirocumab treatment reduces the substantial risk of peripheral artery disease (PAD) in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients on intensive statin therapy. Reduction in lipoprotein(a), especially in individuals with high baseline levels, may mediate this benefit. In this…
read more »
ODYSSEY KIDS: Alirocumab in children with heterozygous FH
Alirocumab was effective in lowering LDL cholesterol in children and adolescents with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH, inherited high cholesterol) treated with a statin. Heterozygous FH is characterised by elevated levels of LDL cholesterol which, if untreated, lead to premature atherosclerosis and cardiovascular events (1). Yet,…
read more »
Inclisiran in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia
Results from the ORION-9 study in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH, inherited high cholesterol) show that inclisiran lowers LDL cholesterol by nearly 50% and is well tolerated. The advent of monoclonal antibodies directed against PCSK9 has revolutionised the management of FH, with proven efficacy…
read more »
FH in the MENA region: Gulf Registry launched
Preliminary data from the Gulf Familial Hypercholesterolaemia Registry (Gulf FH) show a high prevalence, with one in 232 people having definite or probable familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH, inherited high cholesterol). Heterozygous FH is largely underdiagnosed and undertreated.1 Information on prevalence is lacking in almost all countries,…
read more »
Monogenic vs polygenic hypercholesterolaemia and cardiovascular risk
Understanding the genetic cause of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH, inherited high cholesterol) is imperative to better stratify and manage cardiovascular risk in patients, according to this report from the UK BioBank. FH is the most common inherited metabolic condition, affecting about one in 200-250 people.1 Genetic…
read more »
Alirocumab in diabetes patients with mixed dyslipidaemia
Alirocumab shows benefit in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and mixed dyslipidaemia, according to this analysis of the ODYSSEY DM-DYSLIPIDEMIA trial. Individuals with T2DM are at increased risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), in part due to the mixed dyslipidaemia, characterized by elevated…
read more »
BEIJERINCK: Evolocumab in people living with HIV
First trial of PCSK9 monoclonal antibody therapy in people living with HIV and at moderate/high cardiovascular risk, with elevated LDL cholesterol levels has closed enrolment, with 464 patients. Due to advances in antiretroviral treatment, HIV is now regarded as a chronic disease. Consequently, attention has…
read more »
DE LAVAL: Evolocumab reduces need for lipoprotein apheresis
Treatment with evolocumab may replace lipoprotein apheresis in patients with high LDL cholesterol levels, refractory to conventional treatment, according to the findings from the DE LAVAL study. Lipoprotein apheresis, which removes LDL cholesterol from the circulation, is indicated in patients with refractory heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia…
read more »
