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(Ivanhoe Newswire) – A new and different kind of cholesterol-lowering drug is proving safe and effective at reducing the risk of heart disease.

In its first clinical trial, the new drug, known only as KB2115, has been shown to cut low density lipoprotein ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL) by 40%. The best drug trial using cholesterol cutting statins show that they reduce the incidence of new heart attacks by only 35%.

KB2115 mimics the action of thyroid hormone and safely speeds up the hormone’s natural ability to get rid of LDL out of the body. Until now, efforts to attack cholesterol using drugs that mimic thyroid hormone have been unsuccessful because in addition to the Men’s healthy effects the drugs also stimulate harmful effects like increased heart rate.

KB2115 is unrelated to statins in structure and action which is good news for people who can’t tolerate them. The researchers say it may also compliment statins to further decrease cholesterol levels.

Karo Bio AB, a Swedish pharmaceutical company, developed the drug. Scientists there are co-authors of the paper reporting the findings along with researchers at the Karolinksi Institute in Sweden and at the University of California, San Francisco.

In the study, 24 moderately overweight people were divided into 4 groups. One group received a placebo and each of the others was given a different dose of KB2115. After 2 weeks LDL levels were lowered by an average of 40% for those that took the highest does. Findings showed the drug was well tolerated with no detectable effects on the heart.

The Phase II trial confirmed earlier tests in animals that found the drug stimulated the ‘good cholesterol” HDL pathway which removes cholesterol from arteries and transports it to the liver where it is converted to bile and eliminated. The animal studies show KD2115 also was effective in fighting obesity and diabetes. They researchers hope to test it oh people to see if it can safely treat the same conditions.

“In spite of today’s therapies for heart attack and stroke, there are more than a million heart attacks a year in the U.S.,” said John Baxter, M.D., professor of medicine in the UCSF Diabetes Center and senior author f the paper. “We need other types of drugs to attack this problem. Using thyroid mimics is an entirely different approach h and I think one with great promise treating high cholesterol and probably other conditions such as obesity and diabetes.”

Further clinical trials are planned.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 20th, 2007 at 4:12 pm and is filed under Aid / Disasters, Biology / Biochemistry, Diabetes, Medical News, Pharma / Biotech Industry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.