While the failure of the first cholesterylester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor, torcetrapib, was blamed on its side effect of raising blood pressure, three more negative trials have also now cast doubt on the value of boosting HDL – AIM-HIGH with niacin, dal-OUTCOMES with dalcetrapib, and a genetic study published earlier this year in The Lancet, showing that people carrying gene variants coding for increased HDL levels did not have a reduced risk of heart disease.
However, in a new analysis of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), published on July 11 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (http://dx.doi.org/10