Etofibrate decreases factor VII and fibrinogen levels in patients with polymetabolic syndrome.
Etofibrate is a hypolipemic drug belonging to the fibrate class. By improving the lipid profile, these drugs often exert a favorable influence on hemostatic risk factors of ischemic heart disease. We present a pilot study on the influence of etofibrate on lipids and lipoproteins in serum, as well as on factor VII and fibrinogen. The study group was comprised of 18 males, aged 52.5 +/- 7.3 years, with hypertriglyceridemia or mixed hyperlipoproteinemia and other risk factors of atherosclerosis, particularly insulin-dependent diabetes and arterial hypertension. The group was further divided into two subgroups depending on the coexistence of arterial hypertension. All patients received etofibrate 500 mg daily for 3 months. In comparison with initial values, a decrease in the following was noted for the whole study group: triglyceride level (226.0 +/- 27.1 vs. 288.0 +/- 51.9 mg/dl; p < 0.05), percent LDL-cholesterol (72.4 +/- 1.8 vs. 75.8 +/- 1.7; p < 0.05), apolipoprotein B (111.2 +/- 4.6 vs. 115.3 +/- 5.4 mg/dl; p < 0.05), atherogenic indices: LDL/HDL (5.06 +/- 0.58 vs. 5.95 +/- 0.50; p < 0.02) and apolipoprotein B and A (apoB/apoA) (0.92 +/- 0.04 vs. 1.02 +/- 0.06; p < 0.05). There was an increase in percent HDL-cholesterol (14.7 +/- 1.1 vs. 12.8 +/- 0.7; p < 0.05) and apoA (121.0 +/- 4.8 vs. 111.2 +/- 2.4 mg/dl; p < 0.05). A marked decrease in the level of factor VII (FVIIc) (114 +/- 5.9 vs. 136 +/- 5.3%; p < 0.001) and fibrinogen (2.95 +/- 0.17 vs. 3.58 +/- 0.17 g/l; p < 0.01) was found. Fibrinogen levels fell notably (3.09 +/- 0.30 vs. 3.87 +/- 0.34 g/l; p < 0.05) in the subgroup with arterial hypertension, and F1 + 2 markers tended to decline (2.32 +/- 0.53 vs. 2.74 +/- 0.37 nmol/l; NS). Patients with normals arterial pressure maintained their fibrinogen levels (3.23 +/- 0.24 vs. 3.36 +/- 0.26 g/l; NS). A positive correlation between FVIIc and F1 + 2 was observed during treatment. All results were expressed as arithmetic means +/- SE. The present study has demonstrated that etofibrate has hypolipemic, antithrombotic and antiatherosclerotic properties in patients with polymetabolic syndrome.