The New England journal of medicine
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We studied the effects of ML-236B, a competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, on serum levels of lipoproteins and ubiquinone-10-in seven heterozygous patients with familial hypercholesterolemia. ML-236B was given at doses of 30 to 60 mg per day for 24 weeks. Serum cholesterol decreased from 390 +/- 9 to 303 +/- 8 mg per deciliter (101 +/- 0.2 to 7.88 +/- 0.2 mmol per liter, mean +/- S. ⋯ Serum ubiquinone-10 levels did not change, and LDL levels of ubiquinone-10 decreased by 50 per cent, from 0.39 +/- 0.07 to 0.20 +/- 0.01 microgram per milliliter (P less than 0.05). No adverse effects were observed. We conclude that ML-236B is effective in lowering serum cholesterol without lowering serum ubiquinone-10 in heterozygous patients with familial hypercholesterolemia.
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Editorial Clinical Trial
Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty -- a status report.
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Using monoclonal antibodies and flow cytometry, wer serially monitored lymphocyte subpopulations in renal-allograft recipients treated with either conventional immunosuppression or a monoclonal antibody. In 29 patients given conventional suppression, highly significant correlations between changes in T-cell subsets and rejection were noted. ⋯ Two patients treated with OKT3 monoclonal antibody for acute rejection had rapid disappearance of OKT3-reactive cells from the peripheral blood and prompt reversal of rejection. The use of monoclonal antibodies allows the precise determination of changes in T-cell subsets and promises the development of therapeutic protocols that can be designed to manipulate selected lymphocyte populations.