[Hyperlipidemia and fibrates with special reference to diabetes]

The lipid triad: hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL, small dense LDL represents a high risk group for excessive cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in type 2 diabetes. In poorly controlled diabetes LDL are increasingly oxydized and glycosylated whereas HDL degradation is accelerated. The high lipid risk in coincidence with the diseases of the metabolic syndrome leads to the conclusion that diabetes today is a cardiovascular disease demanding an aggressive correction of the lipid triad. The benefit of lipid lowering treatment has been proven not only for statins but there is more and more evidence also in favour of fibrates. Fibrates are particularly useful in the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia/low HDL. This also leads to a reduction in small dense LDL. In the case of insufficient correction of LDL a combination with a low dose of a statin is recommended. A definite answer with respect to the benefit/risk ratio of fibrates should be provided by large ongoing studies with these drugs in representative groups of diabetes patients (LDS, TrUMPET, FIELD).