Effects of Combination of Vitamin E and Nicotinic Aacid on Serum Lipids and Apoproteins of Hypertriglyceridemic Hemodialyzed Patients

Oxidative stress and lipid abnormalities are two major risk factors for development of atherosclerosis among hemodialyzed patients. Administrating of Lipid-normalising agents, solely or in combination together, can not correct all lipid abnormalities in hemodialyzed patients. The present study, therefore, was desinged to evaluate the effects of combination therapy of vitamin E and tolerable doses of nicotinic acid on serum lipids and apoproteins in hypertriglyceridemic hemodialyzed patients. The study was a double-blind randomized clinical trial. Thirty-nine hemodialyzed patients with fasting triglyceride range between 230 and 500 mg/dl were randomly assigned into three groups, receiving combination of vitamin E (600mg/d) and nicotinic acid (500mg/d), nicotinic acid alone (500mg/d), and placebo, respectively. All patients received their supplements for 13 weeks. The blood samples were collected after a 12 to 14-hour duration of fasting at the beginning of the study, followed by other samplings performed at the end of sixth and thirteenth weeks, respectively, and serum lipids and apoproteins were measured.accordingly. During the study, the mean serum triglyceride level was significantly reduced in the group receiving combination therapy of vitamin E and nicotinic acid, compared to the placebo group. Compared to that of placebo group, mean serum HDL-C levels were significantly increased two groups of combination therapy, and nicotinic acid alone, although LDL-C/HDL-C ratios were significantly decreased. There was no significant difference in the means of total cholesterol of serum, LDL-C, apoAI, apoB100 and Lp(a) between three groups. It is concluded that combination therapy of vitamin E and nicotinic acid in hypertriglyceridemic hemodialyzed patients can result in improvement in almost every lipid abnormalities, but except high levels of Lp(a).