Efficacy and safety of ezetimibe coadministered with pravastatin in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia: a prospective, randomized, double-blind trial.

AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of ezetimibe 10 mg administered with pravastatin in patients with primary hypercholesterolemia. METHODS AND RESULTS: After dietary stabilization, 2-12 week screening/washout period, and 4-week, single-blind, placebo lead-in period, 538 patients with baseline LDL-C > or =3.8 to < or =6.5 mmol/l and TG < or =4.0 mmol/l were randomized to one of eight possible treatments administered daily for 12 weeks: ezetimibe 10mg; pravastatin 10, 20, or 40 mg; ezetimibe 10 mg plus pravastatin 10, 20, or 40 mg; or placebo. The primary efficacy endpoint was percent reduction in LDL-C from baseline to study endpoint for ezetimibe 10 mg plus pravastatin (pooled doses) compared to pravastatin alone (pooled doses) and ezetimibe alone. The combined use of ezetimibe and pravastatin resulted in significant incremental reductions in LDL-C and TG compared to pooled pravastatin alone (p<0.01). Coadministration therapy reduced LDL-C by 34-41%, TG by 21-23%, and increased HDL-C by 7.8-8.4%, depending on the dose of pravastatin. The combined regimen was well tolerated, with a safety profile similar to pravastatin alone and placebo. CONCLUSIONS: When coadministered with pravastatin, ezetimibe provided significant incremental reductions in LDL-C and TG and was well tolerated with a safety profile similar to pravastatin alone.     

HPLC测定(S)-4-苯基-2-噁唑烷酮的纯度

目的采用HPLC法测定(S)-4-苯基-2-噁唑烷酮(SPO)的纯度。方法采用Welchrom C18色谱柱,流动相为0.02 mol·L-1磷酸二氢钾(KOH调p H5)-乙腈(60∶40),检测波长210 nm,流速1.0 m L·min-1,柱温35℃。结果 SPO0.3036~6.072μg·m L-1与峰面积的线性关系良好(r=0.9999),检测限和定量限分别为0.9099、3.033 ng。结论所用方法准确、灵敏、快速,适用于检测SPO中的微量杂质。     

Management of Patients With Aortic Valve Stenosis

With increased life expectancy and aging of the population, aortic stenosis is now one of the most common valvular heart diseases. Early recognition and management of aortic stenosis are of paramount importance because untreated symptomatic severe disease is universally fatal. The advent of transcather aortic valve replacement technologies provides exciting avenues of care to patients with this disease in whom traditional surgical procedures could not be performed or were associated with high risk. This review for clinicians offers an overview of aortic stenosis and updated information on the current status of various treatment strategies. An electronic literature search of PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Scopus was performed from conception July 1, 2016, through November 30, 2017, using the terms aortic stenosis, aortic valve replacement, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), transcatheter aortic valve insertion (TAVI), surgical aortic valve replacement, aortic stenosis flow-gradient patterns, low-flow aortic valve stenosis, natural history, stress testing, pathophysiology, bicuspid aortic valve, and congenital aortic valve disease.     

Lifestyle versus ezetimibe plus lifestyle in patients with biopsy-proven non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (LISTEN): A double-blind randomised placebo-controlled trial

Background and aimsThe LISTEN trial (ClinicalTrial.gov accession: NCT01950884) is a phase IV 52 weeks double blind parallel randomized controlled trial that evaluated the effect of ezetimibe plus lifestyle and dietary intervention (eze) vs. lifestyle and dietary intervention alone (placebo) on progression and complications of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) evaluated by liver histology.Methods and resultsForty patients with NASH ascertained by histology were randomly allocated on the two study groups and subjected to a follow-up of 52 weeks, when they underwent a second liver biopsy. Main composite end point (EP) was based on the histological improvement in the severity of NASH.Thirty patients completed the study, Eze treatment was not able to improve the primary EP in comparison with placebo, with and odds ratio of 1.029 (0.18–6.38), p = 0.974. Treatment emergent adverse events registered during the study were not more prevalent in the treatment arm.Conclusionsezetimibe administered on top of lifestyle and dietary modification failed to improve the histology of NASH in comparison with lifestyle and dietary modification alone.Trial accession numberClinicalTrial.gov: NCT01950884.     

The Global Burden of Aortic Stenosis

Degenerative, calcific valvular aortic stenosis (AS), caused by an active process of atherosclerosis, calcification and ossification, is the most common cause of AS in industrialized nations. The prevalence of calcific AS is age-dependent, and thus is expected to increase due to demographic aging of the global population. It is well recognized that severe AS carries a poor prognosis if left untreated. Despite this recognition, many patients are inappropriately denied surgery because of perceived risk. This article will examine the etiology, prevalence, and current trends in the treatment of degenerative AS focusing on indications for surgical aortic valve replacement.     

Ezetimibe and Rosuvastatin Combination Treatment Can Reduce the Dose of Rosuvastatin Without Compromising Its Lipid-lowering Efficacy

PurposeThe goal of this study was to compare the lipid-lowering efficacy of the combination of ezetimibe and low- or intermediate-intensity statin therapy versus that of high-intensity statin monotherapy.MethodsThis study is a post hoc analysis of an 8-week, randomized, double-blind, Phase III trial. Patients who had hypercholesterolemia and required lipid-lowering treatment were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 treatment groups: rosuvastatin 5 mg (R5, n = 68), rosuvastatin 10 mg (R10, n = 67), rosuvastatin 20 mg (R20, n = 69), and ezetimibe 10 mg combined with rosuvastatin 5 mg (R5 + E10, n = 67), rosuvastatin 10 mg (R10 + E10, n = 68), and rosuvastatin 20 mg (R20 + E10, n = 68) daily. The effects of coadministration of ezetimibe and a low dose of rosuvastatin on lipid parameters and the target achievement rate were compared between the R5 + E10 and R10 treatment groups, the R5 + E10 and R20 treatment groups, and the R10 + E10 and R20 treatment groups.FindingsReductions in total cholesterol, LDL-C, apolipoprotein B, the apolipoprotein B/A1 ratio, and non–HDL-C were not different between the R5 + E10 and R10 treatment groups (all, P > 0.017), the R5 + E10 and R20 treatment groups (all, P > 0.017), and the R10 + E10 and R20 treatment groups (all, P > 0.017). R5 + E10 treatment showed efficacy comparable to that of R10 or R20 in affording LDL levels <50% of the baseline level (R5 + E10 vs R10, 73.13% vs 62.69% [P = 0.1952]; R5 + E10 vs R20, 73.13% vs 73.91% [P = 0.9180]), LDL-C levels <70 mg/dL (R5 + E10 vs R10, 64.18% vs 55.22% [P = 0.2906]; R5 + E10 vs R20, 64.18% vs 62.32% [P = 0.8220]), and LDL-C levels <50% of the baseline level or <70 mg/dL (R5 + E10 vs R10, 77.61% vs 70.15% [P = 0.3255]; R5 + E10 vs R20, 77.61% vs 78.26% [P = 0.9273]). The R10 + E10 treatment group was better than the R20 treatment group in achieving the target LDL-C level <70 mg/dL (83.82% vs 62.32%; P = 0.0046), even among participants with a baseline LDL-C level >135 mg/dL (77.5% vs 48.8%, respectively; P = 0.0074).ImplicationsEzetimibe combined with low- or intermediate-intensity statin therapy has lipid-lowering efficacy comparable to or better than that of high-intensity rosuvastatin monotherapy. The results of the present study indicate that the combination treatment with ezetimibe is advantageous in that it permits dose reduction of rosuvastatin without compromising the lipid-lowering efficacy of rosuvastatin. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02205606.