The impact of the time of drug administration on the effectiveness of combined treatment of hypercholesterolemia with Rosuvastatin and Ezetimibe (RosEze): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Hypercholesterolemia is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The first line treatment for hypercholesterolemia is statin therapy. When the expected low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentration is not achieved, the pharmacotherapy may be extended by combining the statin with the cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimibe. METHODS/DESIGN: The study is designed as a randomized, open-label, single-center, crossover study evaluating the effectiveness of combined therapy with rosuvastatin and ezetimibe for hypercholesterolemia. The study is planned to include 200 patients with hypercholesterolemia ineffectively treated with statins for at least 6 weeks. After enrollment participants are randomized into one of two arms receiving rosuvastatin and ezetimibe. In the first arm the study drug is administered in the morning (8:00 am) for 6 weeks and then in the evening for the next 6 weeks; in the second arm the study drug is administered at first in the evening (8:00 pm) for the first 6 weeks and then in the morning for the following 6 weeks. In order to minimize non-adherence to the treatment, all patients will receive the study drug free of charge. The primary outcome of the study is change in LDL-C at 6 and 12 weeks of the treatment, depending on the time of day of study drug administration. The secondary endpoints include change in total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, apolipoproteins ApoB and Apo AI, non-HDL cholesterol, small, dense (sd)-LDL cholesterol, lipoprotein(a), glucose, glycated hemoglobin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and creatine kinase at 6 and 12 weeks of the study drug treatment, as well as assessment of plasma fluorescence using stationary and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy at baseline and at 6 and 12 weeks of the therapy. DISCUSSION: The RosEze trial is expected to demonstrate whether there is a significant difference in the effectiveness of the lipid-lowering therapy in reducing the concentration of cholesterol when the medications are taken in the morning compared with the evening time of day. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02772640. Registered on 28 March 2016. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-017-2047-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.