The gene encoding PCSK9 was first identified and linked to the phenotype of familial hypercholesterolaemia approximately 15 years ago. Soon after, studies uncovered the role of PCSK9 in the ...regulation of LDL-receptor recycling and identified loss-of-function variants of PCSK9 that were associated with low circulating levels of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) and a reduced risk of coronary artery disease. With amazing rapidity, monoclonal antibodies against PCSK9 were developed and studied in large clinical programmes. These PCSK9 inhibitors lowered plasma LDL-C levels by approximately 60%, even in patients already receiving maximum-dose statin therapy. In the past year, three cardiovascular outcome trials were completed and showed that PCSK9 inhibitors significantly reduce the risk of major vascular events. Reassuringly, this benefit comes with no major offsetting adverse events, such as an excess of myalgias, elevation of hepatic aminotransferases levels in the plasma, incident diabetes mellitus or neurocognitive adverse events. The clinical benefit of PCSK9 inhibitors seen in these trials occurred in the setting of reducing LDL-C levels to unprecedentedly low levels, suggesting that more aggressive LDL-C targets should be adopted. New technologies to inhibit PCSK9 are now being harnessed and might further revolutionize our treatment of dyslipidaemia.
Abstract Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) binds to the low-density lipoprotein receptor, escorting it to its destruction in the lysosome and thereby preventing the recirculation ...of the low-density lipoprotein receptor to the hepatocyte cell surface. Both gain-of-function mutations in PCSK9 (causing marked increases in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol LDL-C concentration and premature atherosclerosis) and loss-of-function mutations (causing modest LDL-C reduction with low rates of coronary heart disease) have been described. Several monoclonal antibodies to PCSK9 have achieved LDL-C reductions of 50% to 70% across various patient populations and background lipid therapies. Phase 2/3 trials have demonstrated good tolerability without clear drug-related toxicity, although the number and duration of patients treated to date is modest. Currently, 4 phase 3 trials involving >70,000 patients are testing whether these drugs reduce cardiovascular events. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing the existing data to determine whether these agents could be made available prior to the completion of these cardiovascular endpoint trials expected in 2018.
The magnitude of effect of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) on specific cardiovascular and renal outcomes and whether heterogeneity is based on key baseline characteristics remains ...undefined.
We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised, placebo-controlled, cardiovascular outcome trials of SGLT2i in patients with type 2 diabetes. We searched PubMed and Embase for trials published up to Sept 24, 2018. Data search and extraction were completed with a standardised data form and any discrepancies were resolved by consensus. Efficacy outcomes included major adverse cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular death), the composite of cardiovascular death or hospitalisation for heart failure, and progression of renal disease. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% CIs were pooled across trials, and efficacy outcomes were stratified by baseline presence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, heart failure, and degree of renal function.
We included data from three identified trials and 34 322 patients (60·2% with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease), with 3342 major adverse cardiovascular events, 2028 cardiovascular deaths or hospitalisation sfor heart failure events, and 766 renal composite outcomes. SGLT2i reduced major adverse cardiovascular events by 11% (HR 0·89 95% CI 0·83–0·96, p=0·0014), with benefit only seen in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (0·86 0·80–0·93) and not in those without (1·00 0·87–1·16, p for interaction=0·0501). SGLT2i reduced the risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalisation for heart failure by 23% (0·77 0·71–0·84, p<0·0001), with a similar benefit in patients with and without atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and with and without a history of heart failure. SGLT2i reduced the risk of progression of renal disease by 45% (0·55 0·48–0·64, p<0·0001), with a similar benefit in those with and without atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The magnitude of benefit of SGLT2i varied with baseline renal function, with greater reductions in hospitalisations for heart failure (p for interaction=0·0073) and lesser reductions in progression of renal disease (p for interaction=0·0258) in patients with more severe kidney disease at baseline.
SGLT2i have moderate benefits on atherosclerotic major adverse cardiovascular events that seem confined to patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, they have robust benefits on reducing hospitalisation for heart failure and progression of renal disease regardless of existing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or a history of heart failure.
None.
Lipoprotein(a) is similar to LDL cholesterol but contains apolipoprotein(a). A trial tested the effects of an oligonucleotide drug targeting apo(a) mRNA on lipoprotein(a) concentrations in patients ...with CVD.
BACKGROUND:In DECLARE-TIMI 58 (Dapagliflozin Effect on Cardiovascular Events–Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction 58), the sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor dapagliflozin reduced the ...composite end point of cardiovascular death/hospitalization for heart failure (HHF) in a broad population of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, the impact of baseline left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) on the clinical benefit of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibition is unknown.
METHODS:In the DECLARE-TIMI 58 trial, baseline heart failure (HF) status was collected from all patients, and EF was collected when available. HF with reduced EF (HFrEF) was defined as EF <45%. Outcomes of interest were the composite of cardiovascular death/HHF, its components, and all-cause mortality.
RESULTS:Of 17 160 patients, 671 (3.9%) had HFrEF, 1316 (7.7%) had HF without known reduced EF, and 15 173 (88.4%) had no history of HF at baseline. Dapagliflozin reduced cardiovascular death/HHF more in patients with HFrEF (hazard ratio HR, 0.62 95% CI, 0.45–0.86) than in those without HFrEF (HR, 0.88 95% CI, 0.76–1.02; P for interaction=0.046), in whom the treatment effect of dapagliflozin was similar in those with HF without known reduced EF (HR, 0.88 95% CI, 0.66–1.17) and those without HF (HR, 0.88 95% CI, 0.74–1.03). Whereas dapagliflozin reduced HHF both in those with (HR, 0.64 95% CI, 0.43–0.95) and in those without HFrEF (HR, 0.76 95% CI, 0.62–0.92), it reduced cardiovascular death only in patients with HFrEF (HR, 0.55 95% CI, 0.34–0.90) but not in those without HFrEF (HR, 1.08 95% CI, 0.89–1.31; P for interaction=0.012). Likewise, dapagliflozin reduced all-cause mortality in patients with HFrEF (HR, 0.59 95% CI, 0.40–0.88;) but not in those without HFrEF (HR, 0.97 95% CI, 0.86–1.10; P for interaction=0.016).
CONCLUSIONS:In the first sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor cardiovascular outcome trial to evaluate patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus stratified by EF, we found that dapagliflozin reduced HHF in patients with and without HFrEF and reduced cardiovascular death and all-cause mortality in patients with HFrEF.
CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:URLhttps://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifierNCT01730534.
Summary Background Bivalirudin is an alternative to heparin in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We aimed to define the effects of a bivalirudin-based anticoagulation ...regimen compared with a heparin-based anticoagulation regimen on ischaemic and bleeding outcomes. Methods We searched Medline, the Cochrane Library, and relevant meeting abstracts (search done on April 9, 2014) for randomised trials that assessed bivalirudin versus heparin in patients planned for PCI. The primary efficacy endpoint was the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) up to 30 days. Secondary efficacy endpoints were death, myocardial infarction, ischaemia-driven revascularisation, and stent thrombosis. The primary safety endpoint was major bleeding up to 30 days. We calculated pooled risk ratios and 95% CIs using random-effects models. Findings We included data from 16 trials involving 33 958 patients, of whom 2422 experienced MACE and 1406 had a major bleed. There was an increase in the risk of MACE with bivalirudin-based regimens compared with heparin-based regimens (risk ratio 1·09, 95% CI 1·01–1·17; p=0·0204), which was largely driven by increases in myocardial infarction (1·12, 1·03–1·23) and seemingly also by ischaemia-driven revascularisation (1·16, 0·997–1·34) with bivalirudin compared with heparin, with no effect on mortality (0·99, 0·82–1·18). Bivalirudin increased the risk of stent thrombosis (risk ratio 1·38, 95% CI 1·09–1·74; p=0·0074), which was primarily due to an increase in acute cases in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (4·27, 2·28–8·00; p<0·0001). Overall, bivalirudin-based regimens lowered the risk of major bleeding (risk ratio 0·62, 95% CI 0·49–0·78; p<0·0001), but the magnitude of this effect varied greatly (p<0·0001) depending on whether glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors were used predominantly in the heparin arm only (0·53, 0·47–0·61; p<0·0001), provisionally in both arms (0·78, 0·51–1·19; p=0·25), or planned in both arms (1·07, 0·87–1·31; p=0·53). Interpretation Compared with a heparin-based regimen, a bivalirudin-based regimen increases the risk of myocardial infarction and stent thrombosis, but decreases the risk of bleeding, with the magnitude of the reduction depending on concomitant glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor use. Physicians should weigh the trade-off between ischaemic and bleeding events when choosing between different anticoagulant regimens. Funding None.
In this cardiovascular safety trial, lorcaserin facilitated sustained weight loss without a higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular events than that with placebo in a high-risk population of ...overweight or obese patients.
In two randomized trials, evolocumab, a monoclonal antibody that inhibits proprotein convertase subtilisin–kexin type 9 (PCSK9), reduced LDL cholesterol levels by 61%. In an exploratory analysis, the ...incidence of cardiovascular events was reduced in the evolocumab group.
Reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels has proved to be highly effective in reducing rates of major cardiovascular events in numerous large outcome trials.
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For this reason, LDL cholesterol reduction has been incorporated into practice guidelines as a fundamental means of reducing cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
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During the past 3 years, monoclonal antibodies that inhibit proprotein convertase subtilisin–kexin type 9 (PCSK9) have emerged as a new class of drugs that very effectively lower LDL cholesterol levels.
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One of the members of this class is evolocumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody that typically achieves approximately a 60% reduction . . .
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