Send to Lupus. 2016 Jun;25(7):741-8. doi: 10.1177/0961203316631631. Epub 2016 Feb 27. Effect of ezetimibe plus pravastatin on endothelial dysfunction in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Vera-Lastra O1, Méndez-Flores S2, Cruz-Dominguez MP2, Medina G3, Calderón-Aranda E4, Jara LJ5. Author information Abstract BACKGROUND: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have a higher risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), not fully explained by the conventional risk factors. These patients have endothelial dysfunction (ED) as an early process of atherosclerosis, which can be reversed with therapy. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of ezetimibe plus pravastatin on endothelial function in patients with SLE after 12 months of treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: An open study, before and after, which assessed the effect of ezetimibe plus pravastatin treatment, was performed. Twenty two patients (21 women and one man) with diagnosis of SLE were studied, with a mean age 40 ± 5 years. Endothelial dysfunction was evaluated using vascular ultrasound of the brachial artery in order to measure the flow-mediated vasodilation (FMV) basal and after 12 months of treatment with pravastatin 40 mg/day plus ezetimibe 10 mg/day. In addition, a lipid profile: total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), and serum C-reactive protein (CRP), was done. RESULTS: We found a basal FMV of 7.58% and 18.22% after 12 months of treatment, with an improvement of 10.64 points 95% CI (7.58-13.58), p