Effect of policosanol on hyperlipidemia and coronary heart disease in middle-aged patients. A 14-month pilot study

To find out the long-term lipid-lowering efficacy of policosanol in low dose and its influence in the evolution of coronary heart disease (CHD), a pilot clinical randomized single-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted on 23 middle-aged outpatients, with well documented diagnosis of chronic CHD and primary or marginal hyperlipidemia. Twelve patients received policosanol tablets of 1 mg twice daily, and 11 patients placebo in the same fashion, followed with rest and stress electrocardiogram (ECG), and serum lipid blood samples by 14 months. The treated group showed significant reduction of total cholesterol in 14.8% (p ≤ 0.001) and of low density lipoprotein (LDL) in 15.6% (p ≤ 0.05), against non significant increase of 3% and 5.5%, respectively, in the placebo group. No patient had new coronary events in both groups, but 5 of 12 treated patients exhibited a clinical tendency to improve their CHD, in comparison with no one in the placebo group (p ≤ 0.05). These findings show the effectiveness of low dose of policosanol lowering total cholesterol and LDL levels and suggest a CHD improvement in middle-aged patients with primary or marginal hyperlipidemia.