Publication:

Evaluation of lipid lowering ability of atorvastatin and ezetimibe combination as compared with atorvastatin monotherapy

Background Many patients on statin therapy do not achieve recommended LDL cholesterol goals. They require either high dose statin regimen or combination of statins with other lipid modifying agents. Ezetimibe is a novel drug when added to statins, will provide additional reduction in LDL-C level.

Methods Total 100 patients with CHD or hypertension and having serum LDL-C levels of ≥100 mg/dl were enrolled for the study and were randomly allocated to two groups. Baseline investigations done. Patients from Group I received Atorvastatin (10mg) per day orally and patients from group II received combination of Atorvastatin (10mg) and Ezetimibe (10mg) per day orally. Study treatment was started on the day of randomization and continued for 12 weeks and follow up visits were scheduled at 4, 8, and 12 weeks. During each follow up investigations repeated and patients were interviewed and examined for occurrence of any adverse effect.

Results There was greater reduction in levels of LDL-C, Total cholesterol and serum triglycerides in patients treated with Atorvastatin plus Ezetimibe combination as compared to those patients treated with Atorvastatin alone. This difference in percentage reduction in LDL-C, Total cholesterol and serum triglycerides levels in two groups was highly significant at 4, 8 and 12 weeks (p 100mg/dl as it significantly lowers the LDL-C along with total cholesterol and triglycerides.