Triglycerides Again Associated with Cardiovascular Risk in a 22-Year Follow-Up Study

But does lowering triglycerides improve risk?

The role of high levels of triglycerides in cardiovascular disease remains poorly understood. Now, investigators have reported long-term mortality data on the 15,355 patients initially screened for the placebo-controlled Bezafibrate Infarction Prevention (BIP) trial, which enrolled 3122 patients with coronary heart disease and found a statistically nonsignificant 9.4% reduction in the primary endpoint (fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction plus sudden death) with bezafibrate, a triglyceride-lowering drug (Circulation 2000; 102:21).

At follow-up (median, 22.8 years), successively higher baseline fasting triglyceride levels were linked to successively higher age- and sex-adjusted mortality rates, even in multivariate analysis controlling fo…

Reviewing Author

Karol E. Watson, MD, PhD, FACC

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBoehringer Ingelheim; Amgen; Novartis; Lilly; Amarin

Speaker’s BureauBoehringer Ingelheim

Grant/Research SupportNIH

Editorial BoardsCirculation (Associate Editor)