European Heart Journal Advance Access published online on November 22, 2006
European Heart Journal, doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehl392
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Inhibition of CETP as a novel therapeutic strategy for reducing the risk of atherosclerotic disease
Division of Cardiology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8700 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA
Received 25 August 2006; accepted 3 November 2006.
Corresponding author. Tel: +1 310 423 3884; fax: +1 310 423 0144. E-mail address: shahp{at}cshs.org
Lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels with statins is a proven strategy for reducing the risk of atherothrombotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yet, despite the success of statins in reducing cardiovascular event rates in at-risk patients, many will still experience further events. There is, therefore, a need to develop suitable therapies to reduce this residual risk. Low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels are an important independent risk factor for CVD. Though fibrates, niacin, and statins have been shown to modestly raise HDL-C, there is increasing recognition of the need to develop therapies that can increase HDL-C more robustly. Such therapies may help supplement the LDL-C-lowering benefits of statins. Inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) has been identified as a possible strategy for substantially increasing HDL-C levels and CETP inhibitors have demonstrated clinical efficacy, in terms of increasing HDL-C, in preliminary clinical trials, and clinical trials based on outcomes are ongoing. Two CETP inhibitors, JTT-705 and torcetrapib, are now being evaluated more extensively.
Key Words: CETP • HDL • Atherosclerosis