Abstract

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF COMBINATION LIPID LOWERING THERAPY (STATIN WITH EZETIMIBE AND STATIN WITH FENOFIBRATE)

Riya Antony*, Aksa Simon, Divya M. Laby, Ria Raju, Dr. K. Sattanathan, Dr. Sajan Ahmad Z. and Dr. Santhosh M. Mathews

ABSTRACT

Gender based variations exist in the treatment of dyslipidemia and a marked gap in the treatment and control of the disease is seen in women when compared to men. In this study the diversity in the safety and efficacy of combination lipid lowering therapy provided to men and women in a tertiary care teaching hospital is analysed. A total of 100 eligible patients were selected who were ≥ 18yrs of age, with known case of dyslipidemia and on combination therapy of statin with either ezetimibe or fenofibrate. Consistency of treatment effect among men and women were assessed. The percent change from baseline in lipid profile and the safety profile (urea, creatinine and ALT) were estimated for both the combinations. In this study, men tend to achieve better lipid profile targets than women. It was observed that statin plus fenofibrate produced better lipid profile targets in men and statin plus ezetimibe produced better lipid profile targets in women. A significant increase in mean urea and creatinine levels was produced by both combinations, predominantly by fenofibrate. Our results suggest that small sex-related differences exist in response to lipid-lowering treatment and the results show ezetimibe add on therapy to be effective for women and fenofibrate add on therapy for men. Statin plus ezetimibe therapy was shown to be safer compared to statin plus fenofibrate therapy in the whole population.

Keywords: Dyslipidemia, ezetimibe, fenofibrate, gender, variations.