The Study
PCSK9 Inhibition: Insights From Clinical Trials and Future Prospects
This study is like a school report that summarizes what other scientists have found. It doesn’t do its own experiment, so it can tell us what happened in those experiments, but it can’t prove why or if it will always happen.
Analysis score
Maximum 5 for a narrative review.
Where the score came from
Your body has a cleanup crew for bad cholesterol, but a protein called PCSK9 tells the crew to stop working. These medicines block PCSK9, so the cleanup crew keeps removing bad cholesterol from your blood.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 51 / 100
Quality score
Based on clinical experience or non-systematic literature reviews. The lowest level of evidence as they are most susceptible to bias and personal perspective.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes, this is meaningful because even small reductions in heart risk matter for people with heart disease.
- 2These medicines lower bad cholesterol by up to 60% and reduce heart problems by 15% in people already taking statins.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Frontiers in Physiology
Year
2020
Authors
J. Katzmann, I. Gouni-Berthold, U. Laufs
Related Content
Claims (6)
Blocking a protein called PCSK9 with certain drugs helps your body remove bad cholesterol from your blood more effectively.
For people with serious heart disease who are already taking cholesterol-lowering pills, adding one of two special drugs (evolocumab or alirocumab) can lower their chances of having a major heart problem—like a heart attack—by about 15% over a few years.
Taking a cholesterol drug called evolocumab to get really low LDL levels doesn’t seem to cause serious side effects like memory problems, diabetes, cataracts, or brain bleeds over 3 years, according to a major study.
If you take certain cholesterol-lowering shots like evolocumab or alirocumab every few weeks, they can cut your 'bad' cholesterol by about 60%, even if you're already on cholesterol pills, have a genetic form of high cholesterol, or can't handle statins.
People born with a certain gene change that breaks the PCSK9 gene tend to have much lower 'bad' cholesterol their whole lives and are far less likely to get heart disease — so scientists think blocking this gene with medicine might help protect others' hearts too.
Some cholesterol drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors also lower another harmful fat in the blood called lipoprotein(a), and that might help protect the heart in ways that aren't just about lowering bad cholesterol.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.