Triglycerides in Combined Hyperlipedemia

Postprandial triglyceride (TG) levels are easy to measure and are associated with future cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of statin monotherapy and low-dose statin/ezetimibe on lipid parameters including fasting and post-prandial TG. After a 4-week dietary run-in period, 78 patients with combined hyperlipidemia were randomized into 1 of 2 treat-ment groups for 8 weeks: atorvastatin 20 mg or atorvastatin/ezetimibe 5 mg/5 mg. An oral fat load test was performed before and after the drug-treatment period. The low-dose combination had a tendency to decrease fasting TG more than atorvastatin monotherapy. The combination regimen showed a greater reduction in postprandial TG (13 % + 42 % and 34 % + 30%, in the atorvastatin and combination groups, respectively, P .03) and total cholesterol (TC; P .03). The changes in low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) were not different between the 2 groups. The reduction in apo B/A1 was greater in the combination group (32%+ 19 % and42%+ 13%, in the atorvastatin and combination groups, respectively, P .02). In conclusion, these results demonstrated a potential beneficial effect of low-dose atorvastatin/ezetimibe combination treatment on postprandial TG control after comparable LDL-C lowering in patients with combined hyperlipidemia