Mipomersen is a 20-nucleotide, second-generation, antisense oligonucleotide that inhibits human apolipoprotein B (apo B)-100 3 production by binding to and preventing translation of apo B messenger RNA. As apo B-100 is an essential structural component of VLDL, intermediate-density lipoprotein (IDL), LDL, and lipoprotein(a), decreased hepatic production of apo B by mipomersen should lead to reduced circulating concentrations of all of these atherogenic lipoprotein particles (1 ).However, Reyes-Soffer et al., in a stable isotope study of 17 healthy volunteers without hyperlipidemia and presumably on a restricted fat diet, reported that mipomersen 200 mg weekly for 7 weeks, although reducing VLDL and its apo B and triglyceride content, did not reduce the production rates of VLDL apo B but surprisingly increased its clearance (2 ). The study did, however, find modest reductions in IDL-and LDL apo B-associated production and postulated that these lipoproteins were decreased independently and directly rather than being a consequence of reduced VLDL production. The authors postulated that, due to the partial inhibition of apo B synthesis by mipomersen, compensation occurred by increasing the proportion of newly synthesized apo B directed to VLDL production, which in turn helped maintain hepatic lipid homeostasis (2 ). In addition, there was increased loading of triglyceride onto VLDL apo B, resulting in larger, triglyceride-enriched VLDL particles. The authors concluded that, "Targeting apo B synthesis may lower levels of apo B lipoproteins without necessarily reducing VLDL secretion, thereby lowering the risk of steatosis associated with this therapeutic strategy." They also hypothesized, based on their studies, that apo B inhibition with mipomersen could result in less hepatic steatosis than seen with inhibition of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein, which they reported as being rate limiting to the production of VLDL, with the implication it would be less likely to result in hepatic triglyceride accumulation than lomitapide. However, the studies as performed by suffer from a number of problems that make the results unlikely to be extrapolatable to any differences between these mechanisms regarding hepatic steatosis in clinical practice. First, the study in humans with mipomersen was performed in healthy normolipidemic subjects on presumably restricted fat diet with normal or lower apo B and triglyceride production rates that are not reflective of familial or other forms of hyperlipidemia. The second problem is the duration of treatment of only 7 weeks with mipomersen 200 mg per week, which is less than a third the time required to achieve steady state with any dose of the drug that, without a large loading dose, is reported to be at least 26 weeks for weekly dosing (1 ). A third and perhaps the most significant problem is that the reduction in apo B synthesis with mipomersen is dose related. This makes their comparison of a short-term moderate 200 mg weekly dose of mipomersen with a microsomal triglyceride t...