Background: Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. Treatment with fibrate, statins, or other lipid-lowering drugs prevents primary or recurrent cardiovascular events. However, all lipid-lowering drugs have side effects, which may become more severe if combination therapy is prescribed.
Methods: We performed a meta-analysis of published data to compare the safety and efficacy of fibrates alone, compared to fibrate-statin combinations, in patients with dyslipidemia. Six articles were assessed in terms of the efficacy of therapy and nine from the viewpoint of therapeutic safety.
Results: In terms of efficacy, fibrate-statin combinations afforded significantly greater reductions in the levels of total cholesterol (SE=-2.248; 95% CI 1.986-2.510), LDL cholesterol (SE=-2.274; 95% CI 2.015-2.533), and triglycerides (SE=-0.465; 95% CI 0.272-0.658) compared to fibrate alone. In terms of safety, treatment with fibrate alone was associated with a significant decrease in the number of kidney-related adverse events (RR=-0.547; 95% CI 0.368-0.812), compared to treatment with fibrate-statin combinations.
Conclusion: We suggest that treatment with a fibrate-statin combination affords clinical benefits that are superior to treatment with fibrate alone, but increases the risk of side effects (particularly renal). Therapy should thus be carefully monitored.
Keywords: Adverse events; Dyslipidemia; Fibrates; Lipid profiles; Statins.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.