Abstract
This post hoc analysis reports the effects of raloxifene on lipids and lipoproteins in 2659 women with either normal (< or =150 mg/dL) or high (>150 mg/dL) triglyceride levels from a substudy of the Multiple Outcomes of Raloxifene Evaluation (MORE) trial. In both triglyceride subgroups, raloxifene significantly improved low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), apolipoprotein B, apolipoprotein A-I, and fibrinogen compared with placebo (P < .05). After raloxifene treatment, women with high triglycerides experienced an equal or more robust reduction in cholesterol, lipoprotein parameters, and ratios of total cholesterol to HDL-C and non-HDL-C to HDL-C than was observed in women with normal triglycerides (P < .05). Mean levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein B were reduced by 16.5% and 15.8%, respectively, in women with high triglycerides, and by 12.7% and 11.3%, respectively, in women with normal triglycerides. These findings further substantiate that raloxifene improves concentrations of both cholesterol and beta-lipoprotein. The subgroup of women with high triglycerides, who have elevated cardiovascular risk, appear to derive at least equal, if not greater, overall effect on lipid and lipoprotein lowering with raloxifene.