RESEARCH - Avandia linked with severe lipid abnormalities

[Guest guest]

Avandia linked with severe lipid abnormalities

Last Updated: 2004-11-26 9:50:03 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Rauscher

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - On rare occasions, treatment with

rosiglitazone (Avandia) may cause a profound decrease in high-density

lipoprotein (HDL, the " good " cholesterol) and an increase in fasting

triglycerides, researchers in the UK warn in the journal Diabetes Care.

" This represents a potentially serious adverse event that requires

detailed evaluation, " Dr. Anita Sarker and colleagues from Addenbrooke's

Hospital in Cambridge write.

They describe three patients with type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol

in whom treatment with rosiglitazone was temporally related to a sharp

decline in blood levels of HDL cholesterol. The patients had a rapid

return of HDL cholesterol to pretreatment levels when the drug was

stopped.

Despite this abnormal cholesterol response, all three patients

experienced " striking improvement " in blood sugar control with

rosiglitazone treatment.

Sarker's team is aware of two other patients with similar responses to

rosiglitazone treatment.

The mechanism of rosiglitazone-induced cholesterol abnormalities remains

to be determined, they note.

Sarker told Reuters Health: " It is not clear how common this problem is,

although, the fact that this phenomenon was not seen in greater than

1400 patients studied in clinical trials suggests that it is likely to

be a rare side effect. "

" However, we would suggest that a full lipid profile that includes HDL

cholesterol should be measured before starting [rosiglitazone and

similar drugs], and rechecked about three months after. "

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, November 2004

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org