[The effect of bezafibrate on biliary lipids (author's transl)]

The effect of bezafibrate (3 x 200 mg/day) on biliary lipids was studied in 12 healthy male subjects and in 13 patients with hyperlipidemias. In normal subjects, the lithogenic index, with bezafibrate and placebo administered in a double blind cross-over design, was 1.1 and 0.77 respectively. The difference was not significant. In patients, who have been treated with bezafibrate for 6 months to 3 years the index was 0.76, and 0.64 six weeks after discontinuation of the drug. This difference, too, was not significant. It appears, therefore, that contrary to findings with clofibrate, bezafibrate may not be associated with an increased risk of cholelithiasis. This question, however, can ultimately be answered with certainty only on the basis of long-time epidemiologic evidence.