LipoScience, Inc., has announced the publication of the first large-scale real-world study evidencing a link between low LDL-P and reduced cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Data in the study published in Atherosclerosis demonstrated that high-risk patients who achieved a low LDL-P level experienced a 22% to 25% reduction in CVD risk compared to high-risk patients who achieved a low LDL-C level.
”Data from multiple epidemiological studies have suggested that LDL particle measurements are a better predictor of cardiovascular events than LDL cholesterol concentrations, particularly in patients whose LDL-P and LDL-C levels are dissimilar,” notes study coauthor Michael Grabner, PhD, of HealthCore, Inc. “We now have real-world evidence from a large-scale study of commercially insured patients to support the use of LDL-P measurement as an LDL management tool, based on the more favorable clinical outcomes we observed in patients achieving target LDL-P levels, compared to LDL-C targets.”
Researchers conducted a claims analysis among high-risk patients identified from the HealthCore Integrated Research Database (HIRD). Among the 15,569 patients with LDL-P measurements in the study, the risk of a CHD event increased by approximately 4% for each 100 nmol/L increase in LDL-P level. To improve comparability, patients treated to low LDL-P levels (<1000 nmol/L) were then matched to patients treated to low LDL-C levels (<100 mg/dL) with similar demographic and clinical characteristics. Among these matched cohorts, which included more than 4,000 high-risk patients, investigators found that those who achieved target LDL-P levels received more aggressive lipid-lowering treatment than those reaching target LDL-C concentrations. Those treatment differences were associated with better outcomes (as measured by the reduction in CV event rates) over one to three years of follow-up. Read the study abstract.
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