Drug Raises 'Good' HDL Cholesterol Levels

April 7, 2004 -- A new treatment may help people improve their cholesterol levels and potentially lower the risk of heart attack and other complications.

Researchers found that a medication that stops a protein known as CETP can significantly increase levels of the so-called "good" HDL cholesterol while lowering levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol.

The study showed the CETP inhibitor raised HDL cholesterol by more than 100% when used alone, and when used in combination with a cholesterol-lowering statin it raised HDL cholesterol even more.

Researchers say the therapy may offer a new way to target artery-clogging cholesterol and prevent complications from heart disease. A low HDL level is the most common cholesterol problem found in people with heart disease. This so-called "good" cholesterol works to remove fat from plaques in arteries. Cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins have only a moderate effect on raising HDL levels by about 5%-10%.

CETP Inhibitors Raise HDL Cholesterol Levels

In the study, published in the April 8 issue of TheNew England Journal of Medicine, researchers examined the effects of a CETP inhibitor (torcetrapib) in 19 people with low HDL levels (below 40 mg per deciliter). Nine of the participants were also treated with a statin.

After four weeks of treatment with the drug, researchers found HDL cholesterol levels increased by 61% among those treated with the CETP inhibitor and statin and by 46% among those treated with the CETP inhibitor alone.

The study also showed that 'bad' LDL cholesterol levels were reduced by 17% in participants who took both drugs.

In an extended phase of the study, researchers increased the dose of the CETP inhibitor and found the higher dose increased HDL levels by 106% in people not taking a statin.

The study showed that the drug was well tolerated, and no serious side effects were reported. Headache was the most common complaint among those taking the CETP inhibitor.

New Target for Cholesterol Therapy?

Researchers say more studies will be needed to see if the HDL-boosting benefits produced by CETP inhibitor therapy actually protects the heart, but these results suggest that this approach might be a new way to build healthier arteries and improve blood flow.

In an editorial that accompanies the study, H. Bryan Brewer Jr., MD, of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, writes, "CETP inhibitors hold great promise as a new class of drugs that will be of major benefit in the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

"The combined use of statins and CETP inhibitors has the potential for markedly improving our effectiveness in reducing the risk of cardiac events in patients with cardiovascular disease," writes Brewer.