Fibrates

Fibrates are derivatives of fibric acid. They increase the activity of lipoprotein lipase and block lipolysis intracellularly. The result is a reduction of circulating VLDL (TAG). The amount of HDL also increases slightly (a decrease in TAG frees up the HDL capacity for cholesterol ester binding). They are used to treat hypertriglyceridaemia.


 * Side effects

The most common side effects include nausea, vomiting and skin rashes. Rarely, myopathy (due to rhabdomyolysis) and arrhythmias may also occur. The risk is increased with concomitant administration of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.


 * Examples


 * fenofibrate
 * clofibrate
 * bezafibrate
 * gemfibrozil
 * ciprofibrate

Related articles

 * Hypolipidemics
 * Lipoproteins

Source

 * MARTÍNKOVÁ, Jiřina, Stanislav MIČUDA a Jolana CERMANOVÁ. Vybrané kapitoly z klinické farmakologie pro bakalářské studium : Terapie hyperlipidemii [online]. ©2001. [cit. 2010-07-05]. < https://www.lfhk.cuni.cz/farmakol/predn/bak/kapitoly/hypolipidemika-bak.doc/ >.