Ezetimibe – simvastatin fixed combination of (inegy) in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia – combination therapy or monotherapy?

Summary

Comprehensive approach to treatment and influencing several risk factors at the same time are attributed a growing importance in preventive cardiology today. In addition, the trend is to achieve the lowest possible target values by the treatment (hypertension, lipids, diabetes, etc.). As a result, combination therapy is the logical outcome which apart from the benefit (high efficiency) also brings about certain discomfort for the patients having to take a higher number of pills. The introduction of fixed combinations (involving 2 or even more active substances) is a modern approach offering at least partial solution of the above issue. Combination therapy of hyperlipoproteinemias and dyslipidemias (HLP and DLP) is a modern trend in the therapy of lipid metabolism disorders. Combination therapy allows for achieving target values in a higher number of patients, the therapy is welltolerated and is generally safer than the administration of a high monotherapy dose. Ezetimibe – statin is the combination to be used in the first place today for the reduction of LDL-C. However, older and well-proven combinations (statin plus resin, or the “rediscovered” combination of statin and niacin) should not be ignored either, and the paper gives a review of knowledge concerning primarily the fixed combination of ezetmimb and simvastatin, which is today registered in the Czech Republic under the INEGY brand name. It should be added, however, that combination therapy resulting in the reduction of LDL-C is sufficiently evidence-based.

Keywords:
statins – ezetimibe – simvastatin – apolipoprotein B – LDL-cholesterol – fixed combination – Inegy