Established and emerging approaches for the management of dyslipidaemia

The key role of dyslipidaemia in determining cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been proved beyond reasonable doubt, and therefore several dietary and pharmacological approaches have been developed. The discovery of statins has provided a very effective approach in reducing cardiovascular risk as documented by the results obtained in clinical trials and in clinical practice. The current efficacy of statins or other drugs, however, comes short of providing the benefit that could derive from a further reduction of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) in high-risk and very high risk patients. Furthermore, experimental data clearly suggest that other lipoprotein classes beyond LDL play important roles in determining cardiovascular risk. For these reasons a number of new potential drugs are under development in this area. Aim of this review is to discuss the available and the future pharmacological strategies for the management of dyslipidemia.