Bempedoic acid: a promising novel agent for LDL-C lowering

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 361-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anandita Agarwala ◽  
Anne C Goldberg

Bempedoic acid (ETC-1002) is a novel, first-in-class, oral, small molecule that inhibits cholesterol biosynthesis in the same pathway as statins, thereby lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) by upregulating LDL receptors. Preclinical and completed Phase II and III clinical trials have demonstrated promising results regarding its safety and efficacy across a variety of patient characteristics including statin intolerance and on a background of lipid-lowering therapy. Bempedoic acid is currently being evaluated in a cardiovascular outcomes trial to evaluate its effect on major cardiovascular events in patients with or at high risk for cardiovascular disease and with statin intolerance. In this review, we will discuss the history and development of bempedoic acid, relevant clinical trials, and its potential role as a lipid-lowering medication in the context of other currently available lipid-lowering therapies.

2017 ◽  
Vol 02 (03) ◽  
pp. 014-020
Author(s):  
Roopali Khanna ◽  
Dandu Himanshu

AbstractStatins are the main cornerstone in the treatment of coronary artery disease. Statins not only reduce the cardiovascular events but also significantly reduce the all-cause mortality. Due to adverse effects of statins, 20 to 30% of patients discontinue statins without consulting the physician. Most common adverse effects reported are muscle symptoms. Studies have shown that the majority of these patients can tolerate statin upon rechallenge. Alternative statin dosing, alternate-day statin, or twice-weekly statin dosing are different strategies to be given before changing to nonstatin lipid-lowering therapy. The newer nonstatin lipid-lowering drugs (ezetimibe, PCSK9 inhibitors) can be added if the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) target level can be achieved despite the maximally tolerated statin dose. This article reviews the etiology, clinical symptoms, and management of statin intolerance.


Author(s):  
Rekha Mehani ◽  
Ajay Shukla ◽  
V. K. Yadav ◽  
Rimjhim Sahu

Increased levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol are responsible for the major cardiovascular events. Low density lipoprotein cholesterol reduction has proved to be highly effective in reducing the risk of major cardiovascular (CV) events in various trials. ACC/AHA guidelines recommend lipid-lowering therapy for patients with known cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Statins are the gold standard treatment for all types hypercholeterolemia but still there is need of some other lipid-lowering therapies especially in patients with statin intolerance and in patients responding inadequately to statins. Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) was discovered in 2003 and subsequently emerged as a novel target for LDLC-lowering therapy. Evolocumab is a fully human monoclonal immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2) directed against human PCSK9. Evolocumab binds to PCSK9 enzyme rendering it unable to bind to the LDLR. More LDLR are available to bind to LDLC. Evolocumab increase the density of LDLR on the surface of hepatocytes, thereby increasing the uptake of LDL particles and decreasing the LDLC in the blood. Evolocumab has proved its efficacy with LDLC reduction from 53% to 75% and associated with minor side effects. Evolocumab has corroborated its effectiveness in reduction in the levels of LDLC. This drug has shown efficacy in heterozygous and homozygous subtypes of familial hypercholesterolemia. Statin intolerance seen in about 15% of all patients restricts the use of first line drug for dyslipidemia. Evolocumab can be a useful option in statin intolerant patients and in patients responding inadequately to statins.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 1029-1040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinjie Lu

Background:One of the important factors in Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) metabolism is the LDL receptor (LDLR) by its capacity to bind and subsequently clear cholesterol derived from LDL (LDL-C) in the circulation. Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin-like Kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a newly discovered serine protease that destroys LDLR in the liver and thereby controls the levels of LDL in plasma. Inhibition of PCSK9-mediated degradation of LDLR has, therefore, become a novel target for lipid-lowering therapy.Methods:We review the current understanding of the structure and function of PCSK9 as well as its implications for the treatment of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis.Results:New treatments such as monoclonal antibodies against PCSK9 may be useful agents to lower plasma levels of LDL and hence prevent atherosclerosis.Conclusion:PCSK9's mechanism of action is not yet fully clarified. However, treatments that target PCSK9 have shown striking early efficacy and promise to improve the lives of countless patients with hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohan Xu ◽  
Meng Chai ◽  
Yujing Cheng ◽  
Pingan Peng ◽  
Xiaoli Liu ◽  
...  

Aims: To explore early intensive lipid-lowering therapy in patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). Background: Lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels can reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Due to many reasons, the need for early intensive lipid-lowering therapy is far from being met in Chinese NSTE-ACS patients at high-risk of recurrent ischaemic events. Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, safety and efficacy of starting evolocumab in hospital to lower LDL-C levels in Chinese patients with NSTE-ACS. Methods: In this prospective cohort study initiated by researchers, 334 consecutive patients with NSTE-ACS who had sub-standard LDL-C levels (LDL-C ≥2.3 mmol/L after regular oral statin treatment for at least 4 weeks; or LDL-C ≥3.2 mmol/L without regular oral statin treatment) were included. Patients who agreed to treatment with evolocumab (140 mg subcutaneously every 2 weeks, initiated in hospital and used for 12 weeks after discharge) were enrolled in the evolocumab group (n=96) and others in the control group (n=238). All enrolled patients received regular statin treatment (atorvastatin 20 mg/day or rosuvastatin 10 mg/day; doses unchanged throughout the study).The primary endpoint was the change in LDL-C levels from baseline to week 12. Results: Most patients (67.1%) had not received regular statin treatment before. In the evolocumab group, LDL-C levels decreased significantly at week 4 and remained stable at week 8 and 12 (all p<0.001). At week 12, the LDL-C percentage change from baseline in the evolocumab group was -79.2±12.7% (from an average of 3.7 to 0.7 mmol/L), while in the control group it was -37.4±15.4% (from an average of 3.3 to 2.0 mmol/L). The mean difference between these 2 groups was -41.8% (95% CI -45.0 to -38.5%; p<0.001). At week 12, the proportions of patients with LDL-C levels <1.8 mmol/L and 1.4 mmol/L in the evolocumab group were significantly higher than in the control group (96.8 vs 36.1%; 90.6 vs 7.1%; both p<0.001). The incidence of adverse events and cardiovascular events was similar in both groups. Conclusions: In this prospective cohort study we evaluated the early initiation of evolocumab in NSTE-ACS patients in China. Evolocumab combined with statins significantly lowered LDL-C levels and increased the probability of achieving recommended LDL-C levels, with satisfactory safety and well tolerance.


Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuqiong Jiao ◽  
Ting Ye ◽  
Xiang Han

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to illustrate a new low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) adsorption system, Delipid Extracorporeal Lipoprotein filter from Plasma (DELP) system, and evaluate its safety and efficacy in acute ischemic stroke patients. Methods: This is an observational study of 22 acute ischemic stroke patients who underwent DELP treatment from March to August 2019. The DELP system was composed of a plasma filter JX-DELP, a COM.TEC cell separator and Tubing P1R Plasma Treatment Set. Clinical data and laboratory results including plasma lipids and some safety parameters before and after the apheresis were collected and analyzed. Results: The present study included 22 patients (15 males, 7 females, 59.95±13.71 years). The mean LDL-C was significantly reduced from 3.36±0.64 mmol/L to 2.30±0.53 mmol/L (31.5%, p <0.001, n=22) during a single DELP treatment, and from 3.59±0.48 mmol/L to 1.85±0.50 mmol/L (48.2%, p <0.001, n=13) after two apheresis, respectively. No clinically relevant changes were observed in hematologic safety parameters during DELP treatments. Conclusions: We concluded that the new LDL-C adsorption system is a promising method for timely and controllable LDL-C administration in acute ischemic stroke patients in view of its high efficacy, simple operation, and safety.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiao Gong ◽  
Yaqiong Chen ◽  
Yusheng Jie ◽  
Mingkai Tan ◽  
Zhaofang Jiang ◽  
...  

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a well-known risk factor for coronary heart disease but protects against infection and sepsis. We aimed to disclose the exact association between LDL-C and severe 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Baseline data were retrospectively collected for 601 non-severe COVID-19 patients from two centers in Guangzhou and one center in Shenzhen, and patients on admission were medically observed for at least 15 days to determine the final outcome, including the non-severe group (n = 460) and the severe group (severe and critical cases) (n = 141). Among 601 cases, 76 (12.65%) received lipid-lowering therapy; the proportion of patients taking lipid-lowering drugs in the severe group was higher than that in the non-severe group (22.7 vs. 9.6%). We found a U-shaped association between LDL-C level and risk of severe COVID-19 using restricted cubic splines. Using univariate logistic regression analysis, odds ratios for severe COVID-19 for patients with LDL-C ≤1.6 mmol/L (61.9 mg/dL) and above 3.4 mmol/L (131.4 mg/dL) were 2.29 (95% confidence interval 1.12–4.68; p = 0.023) and 2.02 (1.04–3.94; p = 0.039), respectively, compared to those with LDL-C of 2.81–3.40 mmol/L (108.6–131.4 mg/dL); following multifactorial adjustment, odds ratios were 2.61 (1.07–6.37; p = 0.035) and 2.36 (1.09–5.14; p = 0.030). Similar results were yielded using 0.3 and 0.5 mmol/L categories of LDL-C and sensitivity analyses. Both low and high LDL-C levels were significantly associated with higher risk of severe COVID-19. Although our findings do not necessarily imply causality, they suggest that clinicians should pay more attention to lipid-lowering therapy in COVID-19 patients to improve clinical prognosis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
P Penson ◽  
S.S Martin ◽  
N.C Henney ◽  
M Banach

Abstract Background Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), and a target for lipid-lowering therapy. LDL-C is typically not measured directly but is estimated using the Friedewald formula, which assumes a fixed factor for the ratio of triglycerides (TG) to very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C). However this assumption is sometimes not valid. The Martin/Hopkins (M/H) formula estimates LDL-C using an adjustable factor for the TG:VLDL-C ratio and is expected to improve upon Friedewald when predicting measured LDL-C, and apolipoprotein B (ApoB), one molecule of which is associated with each LDL particle. Purpose We compared values of LDL-C calculated by the Friedewald and M/H methods with respect to their correlation with non-high density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and ApoB, and their classification of individuals based upon attainment of the threshold value of 70 mg/dl (1.8 mmol/l) of LDL-C. This cut-point is a treatment target for individuals at high risk of CVD in the 2019 ESC guidelines for lipid modification, and a threshold for initiating statin therapy in the 2019 ACC/AHA guidelines. Methods In this analysis we included participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2005–2016, age ≥18, &lt;80 years who had measurements for total cholesterol (TC), TG and HDL-C. LDL-C was calculated using Friedewald and M/H. We correlated LDL-C (calculated using the two methods) with non-HDL-C and ApoB. We identified individuals with LDL-C &lt;70 mg/dl using both methods. When LDL-C (Friedewald) was &lt;70, but LDL-C (M/H) was &gt;70, we classified these participants as discordant. Statistical analyses were performed in IBM SPSS for Windows v26. Results 12,243 individuals were included. 51.8% were female, mean (±SD) age was 45.5±17.4, 15.3% were treated with statins, ApoB was available for 2179 participants. Mean lipid concentrations (mg/dl) were: TC: 191.5±41.0, TG: 120.0±67.0, HDL-C: 54.1±15.7, LDL-C (Friedewald): 113.3±35.4; LDL-C (M/H): 114.9±35.2. In the whole population, LDL-C (M/H) was more strongly correlated than LDL-C (Friedewald) with ApoB (r=0.935 v 0.894) and non-HDL-C (r=0.981 v 0.944). In statin-treated participants, LDL-C (M/H) was also more strongly correlated with ApoB (r=0.951 v 0.914) and non-HDL-C (r=0.979 v 0.928). 1139 participants had LDL-C (Friedewald) &lt;70 mg/dl. Of these, 206 individuals (18.1%) were discordant, having LDL-C (M/H) &gt;70 mg/dl. Amongst statin-treated patients, 22.9% were discordant. Only 5.5% of individuals with LDL-C (M/H) &lt;70 mg/dl showed reverse discordance (LDL-C (Friedewald) &gt;70 mg/dl). Conclusions The M/H method of calculating LDL-C correlates more strongly with non-HDL-C and ApoB than Friedewald. Importantly the discordant results confirm previous observations that Friedewald underestimates LDL-C at low concentrations. This may result in under-use of lipid-lowering therapies. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Teterina ◽  
A Geraskin ◽  
P Potapov ◽  
L Babaeva ◽  
A Pisaryuk ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and aim Many genetic studies have been reported about the association between APOE, APOC3 gene polymorphisms and response to statin therapy in myocardial infarction, but results remain controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between SNP rs7412 (APOE), rs2854117 (APOC3), rs2854116 (APOC3) and lipid-lowering effect of atorvastatin and rosuvastatin in patients with myocardial infarction. Methods Polymorphism of genes APOE (rs7412), APOC3 (rs2854117 and rs2854116) was determened. Lipid profile was determined on admission and after 1 year of treatment. Results 78 patients with myocardial infarction treated with maximal tolerated dose of atorvastatin or rosuvastatin were included. More pronounced reduction of lipid levels was associated with of T allele of rs7412 (APOE), p<0,05. ANOVA demonstrated greater low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol decrease in patients with combination of genes CT/TT (rs7412, APOE) and CC (rs2854117, APOC3) genotypes, CT/TT (rs7412, APOE) and CT (rs2854116, APOC3) genotypes. Conclusion The genetic variants of APOC3 and APOE are useful markers and can be use to predict response to lipid-lowering therapy with statin in myocardial infarction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (40) ◽  
pp. 3900-3909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Allahyari ◽  
Tomas Jernberg ◽  
Emil Hagström ◽  
Margrét Leosdottir ◽  
Pia Lundman ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims To estimate the proportion of patients with a recent myocardial infarction (MI) who would be eligible for additional lipid-lowering therapy according to the 2019 European Society of Cardiology (ESC)/European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) guidelines for the management of dyslipidaemias, and to simulate the effects of expanded lipid-lowering therapy on attainment of the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) target as recommended by the guidelines. Methods and results Using the nationwide SWEDEHEART register, we included 25 466 patients who had attended a follow-up visit 6–10 weeks after an MI event, 2013–17. While most patients (86.6%) were receiving high-intensity statins, 82.9% of the patients would be eligible for expanded lipid-lowering therapy, as they had not attained the target of an LDL-C level of &lt;1.4 mmol and a ≥50% LDL-C level reduction. When maximized use of high-intensity statins followed by add-on therapy with ezetimibe was simulated using a Monte Carlo model, the LDL-C target was reached in 19.9% using high-intensity statin monotherapy and in another 28.5% with high-intensity statins and ezetimibe, while 50.7% would still be eligible for proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors. When use of alirocumab or evolocumab was simulated in those who were eligible for PCSK9 inhibitors, around 90% of all patients attained the LDL-C target. Conclusion  Our study suggests that, even with maximized use of high-intensity statins and ezetimibe, around half of patients with MI would be eligible for treatment with PCSK9 inhibitors according to the 2019 ESC/EAS guidelines. Considering the current cost of PCSK9 inhibitors, the financial implications of the new guidelines may be substantial.


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