Two small studies have demonstrated that probucol, a drug used in the 1970s for lowering serum cholesterol, which was abandoned because of adverse effects, has important additional antioxidant properties. Probucol significantly reduces restenosis when administered one month before and continued for six months after percutaneous trans-luminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). The small group, 317 patients, used in these studies limits the conclusions regarding the benefits of this drug.
Because several clinical trials during the past 20 years have not altered the restenosis rate after PTCA, which still remains at more than 33%, any agent or natural product that reduces restenosis rates would be a welcome addition to the cardiologic armamentarium.