Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Heart Disease, Lipids, NEJM, Statins / 13.03.2019
Genetic Evidence Suggests New LDL-C Lowering Drug May Decrease Cardiovascular Events and Have Additive Effect with Statins
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Brian A Ference, MD, MPhil, MSc, FACC, FESC
Professor and Director of Research in Translational Therapeutics
Executive Director, Centre for Naturally Randomized Trials
Strangeways Research Laboratory
University of Cambridge
Cambridge, UK
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Bempedoic acid is a novel therapy currently in development that lowers LDL-C by inhibiting ATP-citrate lyase, an enzyme in the same cholesterol biosynthesis pathway as HMG-CoA reductase (the target of stains). However, whether lowering LDL-C by inhibiting ATP-citrate lyase will reduce the risk of cardiovascular events to the same extent as lowering LDL-C by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase with a statin is unknown.
We conducted a “naturally randomized trial” using Mendelian randomization in more than 650,000 participants who experienced more than 100,000 cardiovascular events to evaluate the potential clinical benefit of lowering LDL-C by inhibiting ATP-citrate lyase as compared to lowering LDL-C by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase.
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