بررسی مقایسه‌ای آثار درمانی و عوارض جانبی کوتاه‌مدت آنتوم با اسید نیکوتینیک، کلوفیبرات و دارونما در بیماران مبتلا به هیپرتری‌گلیسریدمی تنها، با روش دو سوکور و انتخاب تصادفی نمونه‌ها

Introduction: Anethum is an herbal medicine composed of the three plants species Anethum, Fumaria and Cichorium, and has been widely marketed and prescribed as lipid-lowering agent in Iran in recent years. No controlled clinical trial of this medicine has so far been carried out, however. We studied the efficacy and short-term side effects of Anethum in patients with isolated hypertriglyceridaemia. Methods: 151 people (54 men and 97 women) with serum triglyceride ≥250mg/dl and serum cholesterol <240mg/dl were enrolled in this study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: Anethum, nicotinic acid, clofibrate, and placebo. They were seen at the Doctor Shariati University Hospital lipid clinic once every two weeks. Serum lipid profile was measured at 2 and 4 months after start of therapy. Relevant patient details, including sex, body mass index, mean total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein, cigarette smoking, previous myocardial infarction, physical activity, and oral contraceptive use were recorded before enrolment. Results: Four months after treatment was started, serum triglyceride had decreased 12.5% in the Anethum group and 6.8% in the placebo group (p=0.999). During the same period, serum triglyceride had decreased 48.8% in the nicotinic acid group and 54.4% in the clofibrate group (p=0.006 with respect to both placebo and Anethum). Furthermore, the nicotinic acid group showed a 7.8% decrease in serum total cholesterol (p=0.009 with respect to the other three groups). HDL-C decreased 9.8% in the Anethum group, 17.5% in the nicotinic acid group, 8.1% in the clofibrate group, and 9.1% in the placebo group (p=0.149 between first three groups and placebo). 81.8% of the nicotinic acid, 57.1% of the clofibrate, 8.0% of the Anethum and 30% of the placebo group experienced side effects during the same period. The most common complaints in the Anethum were actually non-specific ones. Conclusion: We conclude that Anethum does not exert any therapeutic effect on isolated hypertriglyceridaemia.