The effect of ciprofibrate on flow-mediated dilation and inflammatory markers in patients with combined hyperlipidemia

Impairment of flow-mediated dilation (FMD) has been shown to be associated with hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia and reduction of cholesterol and/or triglyceride levels can improve FMD. In hyperlipidemia the role of inflammatory substances on endothelial function requires further clarification. In patients with combined hyperlipidemia (n = 29), the capacity of FMD was weaker whereas the levels of interleukin (IL)-1 alpha, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM), and fibrinogen were higher compared to normolipemic controls with normal FMD adjusted for age and sex. Patients were randomized to a diet-only or to a ciprofibrate treatment group. After 8 weeks FMD levels rose significantly both in the diet-only (10.2%) and the ciprofibrate treatment (79.4%) groups. In the diet-only group improvement of FMD was significantly associated with the reduction of triglyceride (by 15.9%) and cholesterol (6.9%) levels. The much larger improvement of FMD due to ciprofibrate therapy was accompanied by significant reductions of cholesterol (by 14.4%), fibrinogen, IL-1 alpha, and sICAM levels and by significant increase of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol concentration, but the change in FMD correlated only with the reduction of the cholesterol level. In line with previous data the authors emphasize that improvement of FMD in patients with combined hyperlipidemia treated with diet and/or ciprofibrate is linked directly to the reduction of cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations rather than to changes in the level of the investigated inflammatory markers.