A clofibrate controlled trial of gemfibrozil in the treatment of hyperlipidaemias.

The efficacy of gemfibrozil as a hypolipidaemic agent was compared with that of clofibrate in a cohort of 80 subjects, half being treated with gemfibrozil and half with clofibrate. The majority of the subjects were either of the type IIa or IIb. Both drugs proved to be effective, though there were 13 non-responders in the clofibrate group, compared with 8 in the gemfibrozil group. The mean reduction in serum cholesterol induced by clofibrate was 23% and by gemfibrozil 19%. The corresponding falls in serum triglycerides were 36% and 43%. There were no serious side effects in either group. Analysed in this way, the relative efficiencies of gemfibrozil and clofibrate seem to be indistinguishable. Further studies are being directed towards evaluation of the individual responses to both treatments.