Pharmacology of Antihyperlipidemic Medications for Laboratory Professionals

A physician matches elevated levels of serum cholesterol with eruptive xanthomas. Eruptive xanthomas are characterized as...

A group of yellow or red raised lesions that tend to appear on the back of the arms and front of the legs. Associated with hypertriglyceridemia.

A patient with diabetes mellitus is started on atorvastatin due to hyperlipidemia. Which laboratory test would expect to be routinely monitored in this patient?

ALT/AST

A clinician suspects that a patient taking a statin medication for hyperlipidemia has developed rhabdomyolysis. The clinician orders a serum creatine kinase (CK), urine dipstick, and microscopic urine analysis. Which set of test results represents the most probable outcome in a patient with rhabdomyolysis?

CK: Extremely elevated Urinalysis: Positive for blood Urine microscopic: No red blood cells (RBCs) seen

Which of the following arranges these lipoprotein types in order, from those with the HIGHEST amount of lipids to those with the LEAST amount of lipids?

Chylomicrons, VLDL, LDL, HDL

An increased amount of which type of cholesterol leads to a decreased risk of atherosclerosis?

HDL

Which of the following is true?

Infarction of the heart muscle leads to myocardial infarction (MI), causing a heart attack.

Familial hypertriglyceridemia puts patients at an increased risk of developing inflammation of which organ?

Pancreas

From the list of variables below, select which variable is NOT used by clinicians to calculate cardiovascular risk in regard to screening for and treating lipid disorders with statins.

Serum LDL

Which substance acts as an emulsifier, inserting itself into the lipid molecules from the diet, forcing them apart so that there is more surface area for pancreatic enzymes to digest?

bile

Which medication for hypercholesterolemia may require more thorough monitoring of glucose levels in diabetics due to this medication's ability to elevate serum glucose levels?

niacin