Safety, Effectiveness, and Tolerability of Ezetimibe Combined With Statins for the Treatment of High Cholesterol in HIV Infected Adults

Anti-HIV drugs, especially protease inhibitors (PIs), have been linked to lipid metabolism problems, including elevations in low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), triglycerides, and total cholesterol. Ezetimibe is a lipid-controlling drug; statins are part of another class of lipid-lowering drugs popularly prescribed to people with high cholesterol. The purpose of this study is to determine the safety, effectiveness, and tolerability of ezetimibe in combination with statin therapy in adults who are taking anti-HIV drugs and have high cholesterol. Study hypothesis: In HIV infected adults, ezetimibe in combination with statin therapy will result in significantly lower LDL-c compared to statin therapy alone.