Could new ‘super statins’ slash heart risk for millions?
NEW drugs given alongside statins could cut the risk of heart attacks and diabetes for millions of middle-aged people.
Experts at the University of Cambridge believe a new type of medication – lipoprotein lipase enhancers – could substantially cut the risk of disease among those who already take cholesterol-busting statins.
They may also reduce the various side effects of statins which currently put many people off the pills.
The drugs – which reduce triglyceride fats in the blood – are still in early development.
But the Cambridge team carried out an advanced genetic analysis using data from 400,000 to model the impact the treatments are likely to have.
The results suggest that for those with average cholesterol levels, lipoprotein lipase enhancers cut the risk of heart attacks and angina by roughly 40 per cent and Type 2 diabetes by 30 per cent.
The researchers stressed their findings do not replicate a proper trial on patients and that full clinical trials are needed before the drugs can be prescribed. But the use of advanced genetic modelling – involving a technique called ‘ Mendelian randomisation’ to mimic a clinical trial – suggests the drugs could be extremely effective.
Researcher Dr Luca Lotta said: ‘Our study suggests that these new triglyceride-lowering agents could give additional benefits to patients with heart disease when added to statins.
‘This combination could prevent more heart attacks as well as reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.’ Statins are already taken by six million Britons and are thought to save 7,000 lives a year. But with heart disease linked to a quarter of all deaths in the UK, further treatments are desperately needed.
The new drugs mimic the way the body naturally breaks down triglycerides with an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase.
Drug companies are now developing several agents that enhance the activity of this enzyme – all still in pre-clinical or early clinical stages of development.
The Cambridge scientists used genetic data in the UK Biobank database to predict the likely effects of statins and the new drugs by analysing naturally occurring genetic differences of the British population.
Some people have DNA that naturally increases the effectiveness of lipoprotein lipase, or LPL, mimicking the effect that would be observed if the LPL-enhancing drugs were used.
The researchers also believe the drugs could reduce the side effects of statins – such as the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, which affects 50 to 100 in every 10,000 patients treated. The scientists found that those with LPL gene variants had a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, suggesting that the new drugs may improve blood glucose control when paired with statins.
Dr Lotta said: ‘ We’re using genetics to gain insight and help to predict the likely result of future trials … scientists need strong evidence of a drug’s likelihood of success before it gets to the trial stage.’
Experts last night welcomed the findings. Consultant cardiologist Dr Riyaz Patel, of the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘Developing new drugs is expensive and difficult – several promising heart disease drugs have failed at the last hurdle … drug companies and researchers are now increasingly using genetics to try to predict which drugs may be useful and which ones may fail.
‘This study is exciting as it shows that lowering triglyceride cholesterol through these new drugs may reduce heart disease and diabetes risk. However, we are still some time away from being able to prescribe these drugs.’
‘Side effects are also reduced’