View clinical trials related to Hypercholesterolemia.
Filter by:This study will evaluate people with dyslipidemias - disorders that affect the fat content in the blood. Fats, or lipids, such as cholesterol and triglycerides, are carried in the blood in particles called lipoproteins. These particles are involved in causing blood vessel diseases that can lead to conditions like atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) or heart attack. Participants will undergo accepted medical tests and procedures to evaluate their condition. Most of the test results are helpful in making a diagnosis and in guiding treatment. People with lipid disorders are eligible for this study. Representative types of patients include those with: - Plasma cholesterol levels greater than 200 mg/dl or less than 120 mg/dl - Plasma LDL-C levels greater than 130 mg/dl or less than 70 mg/dl - Plasma HDL-C levels greater than 70 mg/dl or less than 25 mg/dl - Unusual cholesterol deposits or xanthomas (nodules of lipid deposits on the skin) Children under 2 years of age are excluded from the study. Participants will undergo some or all of the following procedures: - Plasma evaluation. Apolipoproteins (plasma proteins involved in metabolism of cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids, and proteins in the blood) and enzymes involved in lipid metabolism are measured. - Fat biopsy. A small sample of fat tissue is collected for examination. For this test, an area on the buttock or abdominal wall is numbed. A needle is inserted into the fat, and a small amount of tissue is sucked out by a syringe. - Leukapheresis. White blood cells are collected to help diagnose the lipid disorder. For this test, blood is collected through a needle in an arm vein, similar to donating blood. The blood circulates through a machine that separates it into its components, and the white cells are removed. The rest of the blood is returned to the body, either through the same needle or through another needle in the other arm. - Skin biopsy. Skin cells are collected for study. The cells are grown in the laboratory and the amount of cholesterol that enters or leaves the cells is measured, providing information on abnormalities in cholesterol transport. For this test, an area of skin is numbed with an anesthetic and a small circular area is removed, using a skin punch instrument similar to a sharp cookie cutter. - Heparin infusion study. Heparin, a blood thinner, releases enzymes that break down fat in the blood. Lipase activity (breakdown of fats) in the blood is measured following the injection of heparin into a vein.
According to the reports of the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), there is a 25% annual mortality rate with nearly 50% of all reported maintenance hemodialysis (HD) patient deaths attributed to atherosclerosis-related complications. Although traditional risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are common in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, they alone may be insufficient to account for their high prevalence of CVD. Recent evidence demonstrated high plasma homocysteine levels have been established as a risk factor of chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis in patients with ESRD. Malnutrition and inflammation was associated with poor quality of life, morbidity and mortality. We, the researchers at National Taiwan University Hospital, hope to establish the best predictive profile of HD patient outcome. Thus, we establish several protocols to complete this work.
The objective of this study is to determine if the action of the drug called clopidogrel, that you will start taking, will be decreased by another drug called atorvastatin, that you will also start taking. Clopidogrel is an oral antiplatelet agent that has been shown to prevent strokes and heart attacks. Atorvastatin is a cholesterol lowering agent. Twenty adults 18-75 years of age requiring cholesterol-lowering agent and antiplatelet agent therapy will be recruited for this study during their cardiology clinic visitation. In one group, antiplatelet agent (clopidogrel) regimen will be administered first, then followed by cholesterol-lowering medication (atorvastatin). In the second group, atorvastatin will be administered first, followed by clopidogrel. A new test called the erythromycin breath test will be administered to you three times during the study to measure how your liver will metabolize these drugs. Blood samples will also be obtained to assess platelet function. The criteria for exclusion are patient refusal or inability to give written consent, patients with allergic reaction to erythromycin, patients with known bleeding problems, liver disease, significant lung disease kidney disease and pregnancy. Patients with psychiatric impairment and documented history of substance abuse will also be excluded from the study.