Clinical Drug Experience Knowledgebase

Clofibrate is a fibric acid derivative used to lower cholesterol and triglyceride (fat-like substances) levels in the blood. This may help prevent medical problems caused by such substances clogging the blood vessels. However, this treatment was discontinued in 2002 due to adverse effects. Clofibrate is an agonist of the PPAR-α receptor in muscle, liver, and other tissues. This agonism ultimately leads to modification in gene expression resulting in increased beta-oxidation, decreased triglyceride secretion, increased HDL, and increased lipoprotein lipase activity. Clofibrate increased the activity of extrahepatic lipoprotein lipase (LL), thereby increasing lipoprotein triglyceride lipolysis, inhibited the synthesis, and increases the clearance of apolipoprotein B, a carrier molecule for VLDL. In addition, clofibrate was investigated as a novel therapy agent in multiple myeloma and it shown the promising results.   ^NCATS