Abid Azhar, Saima Erum, Mukhtiar Baig, Junaid Mahmood Alam.
The role of bezafibrate in lowering risk factors for cardiovascular disease in diabetic patients.
Pak J Pharmacol Jan ;24(1):1-6.

A number of hypolipidemic drugs have been shown to lower the raised plasma fibrinogen concentrations indicating that lipid and haemostatic system may act synergistically in pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. The current study examines the possible role of lipid lowering drug bezafibrate to induce change in blood coagulation system and the architecture of fibrin network in addition to its known effects on lipid profile in diabetic patients. Methods based on turbidity for measurement of mass length ratio of fibrin fibers, permeability of the networks and their tensile strength have been used to assess the alterations induced by lipid lowering agent. The study group consisted of 38 patients (18 male and 20 female; age 40 – 65 years). The patients were categorized into two groups. Group one included 20 diabetic patients, selected from Liaquat National Hospital, Karachi, with normal lipid profile as control (9 male, age 51.88 ± 1.93 years; 11 female, age 48.36 ± 2.44 years). Second group included 18 diabetic patients, selected from National Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Karachi, with altered lipid profile i.e. hypertriglyceridaemia and/or hypercholesterolemia (9 male, age 47.33 ± 3.08 years; 9 female, age 48.66 ± 3.99 years). Blood samples were collected after 12-14 hours fasting at the start of the study and after administration of Bezafibrate (200 mg TDS) for 4 weeks. The samples were analyzed for blood parameters like cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), triacylglycerol (TG), and fibrin network characteristics. In addition to the changes in lipid profile, significant alterations were observed in the characteristics of fibrin networks by the drug. Amongst the changes induced are the properties of networks that make the networks more lysable by fibrinolytic agents. Clinical and pharmacological implications of these findings need further investigations.

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