Management of atherogenic dyslipidemia of the metabolic syndrome: evolving rationale for combined drug therapy

Atherogenic dyslipidemia is prevalent in various conditions associated with central obesity, hypertension, hyperurecemia, and impaired beta-cell function (ie, the metabolic syndrome). Because of clinical trial evidence, most high-risk patients with atherogenic dyslipidemia require statin therapy. Coadministration of drugs targeted to reduction of low-density lipoprotein precursors, however, is likely to improve the metabolic profile of all non-high-density lipoproteins and produce a significant rise in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Large-scale clinical trials with combined drug therapy that show coronary heart disease (CHD) risk reduction or improvement in CHD are needed. It is also possible that new drugs are needed to target fatty acid metabolism and inflammation. As understanding of the metabolic origins of atherogenic dyslipidemia increases, it is possible that new targets of therapy will be identified and that new drug combinations will prove to be even more efficacious than those currently available for treatment of this condition.