Nature Communications (Nov 2016)

Liver-specific ATP-citrate lyase inhibition by bempedoic acid decreases LDL-C and attenuates atherosclerosis

  • Stephen L. Pinkosky,
  • Roger S. Newton,
  • Emily A. Day,
  • Rebecca J. Ford,
  • Sarka Lhotak,
  • Richard C. Austin,
  • Carolyn M. Birch,
  • Brennan K. Smith,
  • Sergey Filippov,
  • Pieter H.E. Groot,
  • Gregory R. Steinberg,
  • Narendra D. Lalwani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13457
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Statins are lipid-lowering drugs that prevent cardiovascular disease but tolerability is limited by severe side effects in muscles. Here the authors elucidate a liver-specific activation mechanism for bempedoic acid, a novel cholesterol-lowering drug, and show how it effectively reduces LDL-C and atherosclerotic burden in mice, but does not cause myotoxicty.