Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.Phosphagenics has announced positive results of a pre-clinical study, which demonstrated that the combination of its APA-01 product candidate and the statin atorvastatin significantly reduced serum lipids and inflammatory proteins involved in the development of atherosclerosis.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
The study results indicated that among the animals treated with the APA-01 and atorvastatin combination, total cholesterol levels fell by up to an additional 12% compared to those animals treated with atorvastatin alone. Total HDL-C (good cholesterol) levels increased by up to 37% in combination drug-treated animals, while LDL-C (bad cholesterol) levels were further reduced by up to 24% with the combination, as opposed to atorvastatin alone. The combination also caused a decrease of 92% in triglycerides levels compared to 72% with atorvastatin alone.
APA-01, combined with atorvastatin, enhanced the statin’s effects on lowering inflammation that contributes to the development of atherosclerotic plaques. Reductions occurred in final plasma levels of 23 cytokines that were measured. Following 24 weeks of treatment with various doses of APA-01 and atorvastatin, a statistically significant reduction occurred in a number of cytokines including IL-1B, IL-10, G-CSF, GM-CSF, IFN-y, MCP-1, and RANTES compared to control and these decreases were greater than with either compound alone and appeared to be somewhat dose-dependent.
Atherosclerotic lesions were significantly elevated following incorporation of the high-fat high-cholesterol diet in all animals compared to animals maintained on the regular, rodent diet for the 24-week study period. The effect of the combination treatment of APA-01 combined with atorvastatin appeared to cause a trend toward decreased aortic lesions, but these were not statistically significant.
Esra Ogru, executive vice president of Research and Development at Phosphagenics, said: “We believe that APA-01’s apparent enhancement of a statin’s anti-inflammatory functions could potentially provide a novel therapeutic approach to treating atherosclerosis.”