Triglyceride Lowering Study

Overview

Lovaza is a special fish oil concentrate, that prescribed at 4 g a day to reduce certain fat (triglycerides) levels in blood.Our goal is to study how Lovaza at doses of 4, 8, and 12 grams per day will reduce fats in the blood of the patients with very high level of triglycerides. Our hypothesis is that patients with very high triglycerides will respond more with higher doses of Lovaza (8 g per day and then 12 g per day).

Lovaza contains Omega-3 fatty acids, the family of poly- unsaturated fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids stimulate blood circulation, increases the breakdown of fibrin, and additionally has been shown to reduce blood pressure, cardiac events and mortality from congestive heart failure. There is strong scientific evidence that omega 3 fatty acids significantly reduce blood triglyceride levels while elevating high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) levels. Fasting and non fasting hypertriglyceridemia have been associated with atherosclerosis, and coronary heart disease events, even in the absence of hypercholesterolemia. Severe hypertriglyceridemia (\>2000 mg/dl) can also lead to acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis. Currently, patients having very High TG are treated with Fibric acids (gemfibrozil, Tricor, Antara), and if hyperinsulinemic, with Glucophage. Lovaza (4g/day) has been shown to be effective and safe in lowering TG levels. There is no published data which indicates that Lovaza 8 or 12 g per day would have therapeutic effectiveness in further normalizing triglycerides in subjects on maximized triglyceride lowering and Lovaza 4 g per day. We hypothesize, based on our clinical experience that increasing Lovaza to 8 and then (if necessary) to 12 g/day would safely optimize triglycerides in subjects with primary hypertriglyceridemia who failed to normalize their triglycerides on optimal therapy including Lovaza 4 g/day.

Conditions

Interventions

Eligibility

Locations (1)

Outcomes

Central Contacts