The efficacy and safety of pravastatin, compared to and in combination with bile acid binding resins, in familial hypercholesterolaemia

Abstract

Forty patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) were treated with 40 mg pravastatin once daily. Pravastatin decreased serum total and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) after 8 weeks of treatment by 28% and 33%, respectively, while high density lipoprotein cholesterol increased by 8% and triglycerides decreased by 14%. In 30 patients LDL cholesterol had not decreased below 5.0 mmol l-1 after 8 weeks of treatment, and in these patients resins were added to pravastatin, resulting in an additional decrease in total and LDL cholesterol of 8% and 12%, respectively. A control group of 22 FH patients was treated with placebo for 10 weeks, after which time resins were added, and they induced a decrease in total and LDL-cholesterol of 17% and 22%, respectively. Our results over a 24-week treatment period indicate that 40 mg pravastatin is more effective than 3 packets of resins in lowering LDL cholesterol, whereas the combination is most effective of all and can be used safely.