The anti-inflammatory and antioxidants effects of micronized fenofibrate in patients with visceral obesity and dyslipidemia

In recent studies it was observed the pleiotropic properties beyond hypolipemic effects of fenofibrate: anti-inflammatory, antioxidants effects, positive impact on glucose metabolism, thrombosis, fibrinolytic system endothelial dysfunction.

Objective: To estimate the effects of 4-weeks therapy of micronized fenofibrate in dose 267 mg/d on C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, thiobarbituric acid reaction substances (TBARS) concentrations in isolated erythrocyte membranes and the activities of antioxidants enzymes such: catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), superoxide dismutase (SOD) in erythrocytes in patients with visceral obesity and atherogenic dyslipidemia.

Methods: The study comprised 55 patients (pts), including 20 healthy volunteers and 35 pts with visceral obesity and dyslipidemia (TG>180 mg/dl, HDL-C < 40 mg/dl for men, <50 mg/dl for women) treated with micronized fenofibrate (267 mg/d). Before and after 4 weeks of active treatment the following parameters were determined: lipids (by enzymatic method using BioMerieux tests), CRP (by immunoturbidimetric method), fibrinogen (by Clauss'a method), TBARS concentrations (by method of Stock and Dormandy), CAT (method of Bartosz et al.), GSH-Px (method of Rice-Evansa), SOD (method of Misra) activities.

Results: It was noticed significantly higher concentrations of CRP fibrinogen, TBARS and lower activities of CAT GSH-Px, SOD in patients with visceral obesity and atherogenic dyslipidemia than in the control group. The micronized fenofibrate caused a significant decrease in serum total cholesterol (by 15%), TG (by 38%), CRP (by 35%), fibrinogen (by 26%) and TBARS (by 33%) concentrations associated with a increase in CAT (by 35%), GSH-Px (by 63%), SOD (by 31%) activities.

Conclusions: We conclude that micronized fenofibrate beyond hipolipemic efficacy demonstrates the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties in patients with visceral obesity and atherogenic dyslipidemia.