Gene therapy for lipoprotein disorders

Treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia with continuous insulin infusion

Severe hypertriglyceridemia (SH) represents a therapeutic emergency because of the possibility of developing cardiovascular events and hyperlipemic acute pancreatitis (PA). Most patients with SH suffer primary or genetic abnormality in lipid metabolism in combination with a precipitating factor such as uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, alcoholism, and drug intake. The standard treatment of hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) with omega 3 fatty acids and fibrates, along with dietary changes, has no effect on an emergency situation. There are no clinical guidelines to SH, but therapy with insulin, heparin, a combination of both, plasmapheresis, or octreotide have been tested succesfully. We report the case of a 10-year-old girl with clinical acute pancreatitis and diabetic ketoacidosis debut, along with incidental finding of an SH, who had a good outcome after treatment with insulin intravenous infusion.

Gene therapy for dyslipidemia: a review of gene replacement and gene inhibition strategies

Despite numerous technological and pharmacological advances and more detailed knowledge of molecular etiologies, cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide claiming over 17 million lives a year. Abnormalities in the synthesis, processing and catabolism of lipoprotein particles can result in severe hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia or low HDL-C. Although a plethora of antidyslipidemic pharmacological agents are available, these drugs are relatively ineffective in many patients with Mendelian lipid disorders, indicating the need for new and more effective interventions. In vivo somatic gene therapy is one such intervention. This article summarizes current strategies being pursued for the development of clinical gene therapy for dyslipidemias that cannot effectively be treated with existing drugs.