The efficacy and safety of pravastatin, compared to and in combination with bile acid binding resins, in familial hypercholesterolaemia

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Abstract
Forty patients with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) were treated with 40 mg pravastatin once daily. Pravastatin decreased serum total and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) after 8 weeks of treatment by 28% and 33%, respectively, while high density lipoprotein cholesterol increased by 8% and triglycerides decreased by 14%. In 30 patients LDL cholesterol had not decreased below 5.0 mmol l−1 after 8 weeks of treatment, and in these patients resins were added to pravastatin, resulting in an additional decrease in total and LDL cholesterol of 8% and 12%, respectively. A control group of 22 FH patients was treated with placebo for 10 weeks, after which time resins were added, and they induced a decrease in total and LDL‐cholesterol of 17% and 22%, respectively. Our results over a 24‐week treatment period indicate that 40 mg pravastatin is more effective than 3 packets of resins in lowering LDL cholesterol, whereas the combination is most effective of all and can be used safely.