[The role of PCSK9-inhibitors and of lipoprotein apheresis in the treatment of homozygous and severe heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: A rivalry, or are things quite different?]

PCSK9-inhibitors belong to the new class of hypolipidemic agents. They enhance catabolism of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) through inhibiting activity of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9). They are monoclonal antibodies (alirocumab, evolocumab etc). Under clinical development are also other types of PCSK9-inhibitors which act at a subcellular level. The treatment with PCSK9-inhibitors can be beneficially combined with lipoprotein apheresis (LA). If such treatment using PCSK9-inhibitors is possible with regard to an individual patients genotype, the combination of LA and PCSK9-inhibitors leads to slowing the space of LDL-C increase between individual procedures of apheresis and enables attaining of the lowest possible values of LDL-cholesterolemia for the longest possible period of time. Due to high efficiency of PCSK9-inhibitors lowering LDL-C, but also their lower cost as compared to therapeutic LA, PCSK9-inhibitors now take precedence over the use of extracorporeal lipoprotein apheresis which, nonetheless, still remains the final method for hypolipidemic treatment of patients with severe hypercholesterolemia, who are resistant to conventional therapy while not reaching the target lipid values and at high cardiovascular risk. They belong to extracorporeal elimination methodologies which remove low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol from circulating blood. LA in combination with higher doses of statins and ezetimib currently represents the most efficient method of treatment of homozygous and statin-refractory heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Residual cardiovascular risk in these patients still remains high, in particular because, despite the aforementioned treatment, the target values for lipids according to present recommendations cannot be reached. The combination of LA with the new drugs is promising, primarily due to its potential for further lowering of LDL-cholesterolemia between the individual apheresis procedures. Preliminary results of the ongoing studies indicate that the new hypolipidemic drugs in combination with LA, or when used separately, will substantially enrich and improve the treatment of refractory FH.Key words: alirocumab - atherosclerosis - evolocumab - hypercholesterolemia - cardiovascular disease - lipoprotein apheresis.