RESUMEN
UNLABELLED: Primary and secondary prevention trials have demonstrated that niacin improves the lipid profile and reduces coronary morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety and efficacy of niacin in daily doses of 1.5 and 3.0 g in patients with ischemic heart disease and dyslipidemia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty one male and female patients, aged 30 to 70 years were included. Thirty two patients were later excluded; 18 for adverse events and 14 for causes not related to niacin. RESULTS: In the 29 patients that finished the study, niacin in a dose-dependent manner, significantly reduced the levels of total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, apoB and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio, and significantly increased HDL-Cholesterol concentrations; a decrease in lipoprotein(a) was observed with both dosages, but the change was significant only with the 3.0 g/day. In 11 patients (38%) lipids and lipoproteins reached ideal concentrations. In 15 patients (52%) C-LDL/C-HDL was lower than or equal to 3.5 at the end of the study. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that niacin is well tolerated by 62% of the patients. Niacin is a safe, effective and a low cost alternative in the treatment of patients with ischemic heart disease and dyslipidemia.