Treatment of hyperlipoproteinemia, types II and IV, with pirifibrate: one hundred observations.

A new drug, pirifibrate, was investigated in a multicenter study of 100 patients with type IIa, IIb, or IV hyperlipoproteinemia (HLP). After one month of dieting, patients completed six months of treatment with a dose of 1,500 mg/day of pirifibrate. An average fall of about 20% in plasma cholesterol was observed in type IIa and IIb HLP, and more than 50% in the triglycerides in type IIb and IV HLP. Both reductions were statistically significant (P less than 0.00005). Increases in the alpha-lipoproteins were observed in the three types of HLP. The pre-beta-lipoproteins showed a statistically significant fall in type IIb and IV HLP. Variations observed in beta-lipoproteins were significant only in some controls with type IV, HLP, who had low basal levels.