Elevated lipid concentration is an important risk factor of cardiovascular diseases. Morbidity and mortality of these diseases are decreased by the reduction of lipid levels. Statins have significantly contributed to the improvement of cardiovascular diseases therapy and have been the most potent of the currently available lipid-modifying therapies so far. Intolerance, possible adverse events, and a failure to achieve target lipid levels may limit their use in some patients. This is also the reason for the development of new hypolipidemics. This paper deals with new potential hypolipidemic drugs which influence the fate of cholesterol in the organism from both physiological and pharmacological points of view. The new substances, such as cholesterol absorption inhibitors, ACAT inhibitors, MTP inhibitors, farnesoid receptor X antagonists, and SREBP-SCAP ligands represent the novel agents with potential hypolipidemic and anti-atherosclerotic activities.

        Key words: phytosterols – ACAT inhibitors – MTP inhibitors – farnesoid receptor X antagonists – dyslipidaemia