Omega-3 carboxylic acids monotherapy and combination with statins in the management of dyslipidemia

Abstract

The 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines on cholesterol management placed greater emphasis on statin therapy given the well-established benefits in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Residual risk may remain after statin initiation, in part because of triglyceride-rich lipoprotein cholesterol. Several large trials have failed to show benefit with non-statin cholesterol-lowering medications in the reduction of cardiovascular events. Yet, subgroup analyses showed a benefit in those with hypertriglyceridemia and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level, a high-risk pattern of dyslipidemia. This review discusses the benefits of omega-3 carboxylic acids, a recently approved formulation of omega-3 fatty acid with enhanced bioavailability, in the treatment of dyslipidemia both as monotherapy and combination therapy with a statin.

Keywords:

• omega-3 carboxylic acids
• non-HDL-C
• hypertriglyceridemia
• residual risk
• statin

Disclosure

Michael H Davidson was the Chief Medical Officer of Omthera until June of 2015. Omthera Pharmaceuticals clinically developed omega-3 carboxylic acid for FDA approval and was acquired by Astra Zeneca in July, 2013. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.