Reduction in bad cholesterol trial data presented in Barcelona and Rome

Research conducted at the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center showed a 70 percent reduction in bad cholesterol, using a combination therapy of a statin and a drug that blocks cholesterol absorption. This was the largest reduction in bad cholesterol ever seen in a statin clinical trial. New data from the same trial now shows the added benefit of reducing life-threatening inflammation that can lead to heart disease.

Dr. Christie Ballantyne, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at the Methodist DeBakey Heart Center in Houston and international principal investigator for the study, presented the new data on inflammation at the World Congress of Cardiology in Barcelona in September and the data on cholesterol at the International Symposium on Atherosclerosis in Rome in June.

“The trial showed that the use of Crestor and Zetia together can help the most difficult to treat patients achieve their cholesterol targets and lower CRP, a marker of inflammation that is associated with heart attack and stroke,” Ballantyne said. “Physicians have long relied on cholesterol as a key indicator of cardiovascular risk, but recent research suggests that high risk patients who achieved a low bad cholesterol level combined with a low CRP level had the fewest cardiovascular events.”

The study looked at data from 465 patients in five countries, including Austria, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland and the United States. A combination treatment regimen of 40 mg of rosuvastatin (Crestor®) and 10 mg of ezetimibe (Zetia®) demonstrated a 46 percent reduction in levels of CRP in high-risk patients. In six weeks, treatment also helped 58 percent of patients achieve dual goals of lowering CRP and bad cholesterol.

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