Purpose of review: We provide an overview of recent advances in the therapy of hypertriglyceridemia, focusing on several new therapies with potential for treating of familial chylomicronemia, other forms of hypertriglyceridemia, and for triglyceride-lowering in patients with other lipid disorders.
Recent findings: Newer triglyceride-lowering modalities under evaluation include gene therapy for lipoprotein lipase deficiency (alipogene tiparvovec), and antisense oligonucleotides against mRNA for apolipoproteins B (mipomersen) and C3 (volanesorsen, ISIS 304801). Other potential therapies include small molecule inhibitors of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (lomitapide) and diacylglycerol acyltransferase-1 (pradigastat), and a monoclonal antibody against angiopoietin-like protein 3 (REGN1500). There is also renewed interest in omega-3 fatty acids, and in developing potent and selective agonists of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors.
Summary: Several promising triglyceride-lowering therapies are at various stages of development; a few are even available in some markets. Although existing data suggest good biochemical efficacy, data on long-term clinical outcomes are still limited. For some therapies, cost will be an important consideration, and use will likely be restricted to orphan indications, for example very severe cases of hypertriglyceridemia as seen in familial chylomicronemia syndrome, although some therapies could theoretically be more broadly used one day for cardiovascular disease prevention.