The nurse is teaching a patient about a peroxisome proliferator receptor alpha activator named Trilipix (fenofibric acid). The patient asks what this drug does. What is the nurse's best response?

Question

A) "Micelles are absorbed into the intestinal wall and combined with proteins to become chylomicrons."
B) "The drug makes the liver use cholesterol to produce more bile acids."
C) "The drug works in the brush border of the small intestine to prevent the absorption of dietary cholesterol."
D) "The drug activates a specific hepatic receptor, resulting in increased breakdown of lipids and reduction in triglyceride levels."

Answer 1

D
Feedback:
Fenofibric acid is the first drug in this class. It activates a specific hepatic receptor that results in increased breakdown of lipids, elimination of triglyceride-rich particles from the plasma and reduction in the production to an enzyme that naturally inhibits lipid breakdown. The result is seen as a decrease in triglyceride levels, changes in low density lipoprotein production, which makes them more easily broken down in the body, and an increase in high density lipoprotein levels.