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Benefits of a Long-Term Therapy with Policosanol on Older Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Julio C. Fernández-Travieso, Luis Ernesto López-González, José Illnait-Ferrer, Lilia Fernández-Dorta, Rafael Gamez-Menéndez, Sarahí Mendoza-Castaño, Meilis Mesa-Angarica, Estrella Alvarez-Valera

Coronary disease is the major complication and leading cause of death among patients with diabetes mellitus.1 Hyperlipidaemia is common in patients with diabetes and the high frequency of coronary disease in diabetics is partly a consequence of the abnormalities of lipid metabolism.2  A combination of lifestyle measures, including glycemic control is the first-choice therapy for dyslipidemia management in diabetes. Nevertheless, adherence to these measures alone is often not sufficient and lipid-lowering drugs must be prescribed.3 Policosanol is a mixture of higher primary aliphatic alcohols purified from sugar cane (Sacharum officinarum), wax with cholesterol-lowering effects.4 Policosanol inhibit cholesterol synthesis by regulating the activity of hydroxymethyl glutaryl Coenzyme (HMG CoA) through the increase of AMP kinase activity,5 increasing LDL receptor-dependent processing and catabolic rate of LDL.6  Previous studies conducted in diabetic patients with hypercholesterolemia treated with policosanol showed that policosanol was effective and well tolerated in these patients.7-11
The objective of the present study was to investigate the benefits of long-term therapy with policosanol on older patients with dyslipidaemia due to Type 2 diabetes mellitus.