Familial Atherosclerosis Treatment Study (FATS)

To compare the effects of two intensive lipid-lowering regimens with conventional therapy on coronary atherosclerosis as assessed by arteriography.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Myocardial Ischemia; Heart Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Coronary Disease; Coronary Arteriosclerosis
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: colestipol; Drug: niacin; Drug: lovastatin; Other: Placebo for colestipol; Other: Placebo for lovastatin

Detailed Description

BACKGROUND:

For several decades, clinical trials have addressed the question of whether treatment of hyperlipidemia reduces the risk of cardiovascular events. Substantial evidence supports the idea that cardiovascular benefits are related to the degree of reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level and perhaps to the degree of increase in the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level. In these trials, changes in lipid levels have usually been small and the overall clinical benefits have been limited. The appearance in the 1980s of more effective treatments for hyperlipidemia, new arteriographic methods for assessing atherosclerosis, and new insights into atherogenesis permitted an objective investigation into whether the progression of atherosclerosis was retarded or reversed by lipid-lowering agents.

The clinical trial was supported by a subproject within a program project grant.

DESIGN NARRATIVE:

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled. Baseline arteriograms were performed and fasting lipid samples drawn before heparinization. Patients were stratified for age below 45 years, cigarette smoking within the previous month, and lipid patterns including familial hypercholesterolemia and triglyceride levels. Patients were given dietary counseling and randomly assigned to one of three treatments: lovastatin (20 mg twice a day) and colestipol (10 g three times a day); niacin (1 g four times a day) and colestipol (10 g three times a day): or conventional therapy with placebo (or colestipol if the LDL cholesterol level was elevated). The primary endpoint was a measure of change in the severity of disease in the proximal coronary arteries as measured by quantitative arteriography.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 146
• Phase: Phase 3

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 62 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Men
• Age 62 or younger
• elevated apolipoprotein B levels
• coronary atherosclerosis
• family history of coronary heart disease.

Exclusion Criteria:

• diabetes
• severe hypertension
• cancer
• liver disease
• thyroid disease
• kidney disease

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Quadruple

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Niacin-Colestipol Group; Colestipol was begun at a dose of 5 g three times a day with meals and increased to 10 g three times a day after 10 days, unless side effects delayed the increase. Psyllium hydrophic mucilloid (Metamucil) was provided if dietary bran was insufficient to control constipation. Niacin was started at 125 mg twice a day and gradually increased to 500 mg four times a day (with meals and at bedtime) at one month and 1 g four times a day at two months. If the LDL cholesterol level did not fall below 3.1 mmol per liter (120 mg per deciliter) after three months, the dose of niacin was increased to 1.5 g (three tablets) four times a day, but no further.	Drug: colestipol; Colestipol was begun at a dose of 5 g three times a day with meals and increased to 10 g three times a day after 10 days, unless side effects delayed the increase. Psyllium hydrophic mucilloid (Metamucil) was provided if dietary bran was insufficient to control constipation.; Other Names: Colestid; Drug: niacin; Niacin was started at 125 mg twice a day and gradually increased to 500 mg four times a day (with meals and at bedtime) at one month and 1 g four times a day at two months. If the LDL cholesterol level did not fall below 3.1 mmol per liter (120 mg per deciliter) after three months, the dose of niacin was increased to 1.5 g (three tablets) four times a day, but no further.; Other Names: nicotinic acid
Experimental: Lovastatin-Colestipol Group; Colestipol was given as described above. Lovastatin was begun at a dose of 20 mg twice a day (in the morning and at bedtime). If the LDL cholesterol level did not fall below 3.1 mmol per liter after three months, the dose of lovastatin was increased to 40 mg twice a day.	Drug: colestipol; Colestipol was begun at a dose of 5 g three times a day with meals and increased to 10 g three times a day after 10 days, unless side effects delayed the increase. Psyllium hydrophic mucilloid (Metamucil) was provided if dietary bran was insufficient to control constipation.; Other Names: Colestid; Drug: lovastatin; Lovastatin was begun at a dose of 20 mg twice a day (in the morning and at bedtime). If the LDL cholesterol level did not fall below 3.1 mmol per liter after three months, the dose of lovastatin was increased to 40 mg twice a day.; Other Names: Mevacor
Placebo Comparator: Conventional-Therapy Group; Patients assigned to conventional therapy (the control regimen) received placebos for colestipol and for lovastatin, given as described above, unless their base-line LDL cholesterol level exceeded the 90th percentile for age. We felt obliged to provide such patients (43 percent of the group) with colestipol instead of its placebo. For purposes of blinding, the lovastatin placebo dose for a patient assigned to conventional therapy was doubled each time the lovastatin dose was doubled for a patient assigned to receive lovastatin and colestipol.	Drug: colestipol; Colestipol was begun at a dose of 5 g three times a day with meals and increased to 10 g three times a day after 10 days, unless side effects delayed the increase. Psyllium hydrophic mucilloid (Metamucil) was provided if dietary bran was insufficient to control constipation.; Other Names: Colestid; Other: Placebo for colestipol; Placebo for colestipol.; Other: Placebo for lovastatin; Placebo for lovastatin

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in the Mean Severity of Proximal Stenosis	At base line, the average percentage of stenosis caused by the worst lesion in each of nine proximal segments was 34 percent. On average, after 2 1/2 years of conventional therapy, this index of stenosis increased by 2.1 percentage points. By contrast, it decreased by 0.7 point during treatment with lovastatin and colestipol and by 0.9 with niacin and colestipol (P for trend <0.003). Thus, at the end of the study, on average, these nine lesions were almost 3 percentage points less severe among patients treated intensively rather than conventionally. This difference represents almost 1/10 of the amount of disease present at base line (34 percent stenosis). The minimum diameter, an alternative index of the severity of disease, in the nine proximal lesions averaged 1.91 mm for all patients. It decreased (worsened) by 0.050 mm with conventional therapy but increased (improved) by 0.012 mm with lovastatin and colestipol and by 0.035 with niacin and colestipol (P for trend <0.01).	Baseline and 2.5 years of therapy.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Washington
• Collaborators: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: B. Greg Brown, M.D., Ph.D, University of Washington

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Brown G, Albers JJ, Fisher LD, Schaefer SM, Lin JT, Kaplan C, Zhao XQ, Bisson BD, Fitzpatrick VF, Dodge HT. Regression of coronary artery disease as a result of intensive lipid-lowering therapy in men with high levels of apolipoprotein B. N Engl J Med. 1990 Nov 8;323(19):1289-98. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199011083231901.
• Zhao XQ, Brown BG, Hillger L, Sacco D, Bisson B, Fisher L, Albers JJ. Effects of intensive lipid-lowering therapy on the coronary arteries of asymptomatic subjects with elevated apolipoprotein B. Circulation. 1993 Dec;88(6):2744-53. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.88.6.2744.
• Stewart BF, Brown BG, Zhao XQ, Hillger LA, Sniderman AD, Dowdy A, Fisher LD, Albers JJ. Benefits of lipid-lowering therapy in men with elevated apolipoprotein B are not confined to those with very high low density lipoprotein cholesterol. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1994 Mar 15;23(4):899-906. doi: 10.1016/0735-1097(94)90635-1.
• Brown BG, Hillger L, Zhao XQ, Poulin D, Albers JJ. Types of change in coronary stenosis severity and their relative importance in overall progression and regression of coronary disease. Observations from the FATS Trial. Familial Atherosclerosis Treatment Study. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1995 Jan 17;748:407-17; discussion 417-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1994.tb17337.x. No abstract available.
• Maher VM, Brown BG, Marcovina SM, Hillger LA, Zhao XQ, Albers JJ. Effects of lowering elevated LDL cholesterol on the cardiovascular risk of lipoprotein(a). JAMA. 1995 Dec 13;274(22):1771-4.
• Zambon A, Hokanson JE, Brown BG, Brunzell JD. Evidence for a new pathophysiological mechanism for coronary artery disease regression: hepatic lipase-mediated changes in LDL density. Circulation. 1999 Apr 20;99(15):1959-64. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.99.15.1959.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: January 1, 1984
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 1, 1989
• Study Completion (Actual): August 1, 1989

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 27, 1999
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 27, 1999
• First Posted (Estimate): October 28, 1999

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): December 3, 2015
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 1, 2015
• Last Verified: December 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Vascular Diseases; Arterial Occlusive Diseases; Heart Diseases; Coronary Artery Disease; Myocardial Ischemia; Coronary Disease; Cardiovascular Diseases; Ischemia; Arteriosclerosis; Atherosclerosis; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Vasodilator Agents; Enzyme Inhibitors; Antimetabolites; Micronutrients; Anticholesteremic Agents; Hypolipidemic Agents; Lipid Regulating Agents; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; Vitamins; Vitamin B Complex; Sequestering Agents; Nicotinic Acids; Niacin; Lovastatin; L 647318; Dihydromevinolin; Colestipol
• Other Study ID Numbers: 28764-W; P01HL030086 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)