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Acarbose is an effective adjunct to dietary therapy in the treatment of hypertriglyceridaemias
Author(s) -
Mariano Malaguarnera,
I Giugno,
P Ruello,
M. Rizzo,
Massimo Motta,
Guido Mazzoleni
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
british journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.216
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1365-2125
pISSN - 0306-5251
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2125.1999.00038.x
Subject(s) - acarbose , triglyceride , medicine , endocrinology , cholesterol , hypertriglyceridemia , basal (medicine) , diabetes mellitus
Aims In diabetics, acarbose causes a reduction of blood glucose and triglyceride levels. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of this drug in non diabetic subjects with hypertriglyceridaemia.Methods Thirty non diabetic patients with hypertriglyceridaemia type IIb or IV (24 males, six females; mean age 51.1±10.2 years) were studied. They were stratified into two groups depending on their basal triglyceride concentration (group A: triglyceride values ≤4.5 mmol l −1 ; group B triglyceride values >4.5 mmol l −1 ). Treatment consisted of 4 week courses of diet plus acarbose (50 mg twice daily) alternating with 4 weeks of diet alone for a total period of 16 weeks.Results Mean triglyceride values decreased significantly during the first and third cycles of therapy, i.e. diet plus acarbose treatment cycles in both patient groups. Group A also had significant reductions in total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol concentrations after completion of the acarbose treatment. Reduction of triglyceride levels was observed after both acarbose courses in patients affected by hypertriglyceridaemia type IIb. A marked reduction of triglyceride concentrations was achieved by patients affected by hypertriglyceridaemia type IV after the second acarbose course only.Conclusions Diet alone did not reduce triglyceride concentrations to normal values in our patients. The data suggest that acarbose is a useful adjunct to dietary control in non‐diabetic patients affected by severe hypertriglyceridaemia.