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Summary According to US researchers, the new therapy has been found effective in non-human primates.
A new therapy that helps increase good cholesterol and lower triglycerides in the blood could be a potential tool for combating cardiovascular disease, US researchers say.While there are several effective therapies available on the market for lowering LDL, or bad cholesterol, modern medicine has yet to find a good way to raise HDL, Temel noted.He and colleagues from NYU Langone Medical Center and Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, are studying a new drug that targets microRNA-33 (miR-33). MiR-33 is a small RNA molecule that reduces HDL and increases triglyceride production.The researchers tested the drug, anti-miR-33, in non-human primates and found that it increased HDL cholesterol and lowered triglycerides.In the study, use of the drug resulted in a maximum HDL cholesterol increase of 50 percent after eight weeks that was sustained throughout the remainder of the 12-week study.Anti-miR-33a/b treatment in the non-human primate model also increased the expression of miR-33 target genes involved in fatty acid breakdown resulting in suppressed triglyceride levels, a finding not previously observed in mice.The decrease in triglycerides was apparent after four weeks and reached a maximum reduction of 50 percent.These findings indicate that miR-33a and miR-33b are key regulators of cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism, Temel added, and that an anti-miR-33 approach could directly impact atherosclerosis, as well as address important cardiovascular risk factors such low HDL and high triglycerides.
