pravastatin is safer than other statins

From: Doug Skrecky (oberon@vcn.bc.ca)
Date: Fri Aug 18 2000 - 09:40:57 MDT


Title
  Lipophilic HMG-CoA
  reductase inhibitors increase myocardial stunning in dogs.
Source
  Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology. 35(2):256-62, 2000 Feb.
Abstract
  Pretreatment of dogs with simvastatin, a lipophilic
  3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA)
  reductase inhibitor, increases myocardial contractile
  dysfunction during reperfusion after ischemia (stunning), with reduction of
  tissue adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This was thought to be a consequence of
  prevention of ubiquinone biosynthesis by the lipophilic
  inhibitor in the myocardial cell. We examined whether other
  lipophilic HMG-CoA
  reductase inhibitors also influence myocardial stunning in
  dogs. Vehicle, atorvastatin (2 mg/ kg/day), fluvastatin (4 mg/kg/day), or
  cerivastatin (40 microg/kg/ day) was orally administered for 3 weeks.
  Hydrophilic pravastatin (4 mg/kg/day) also was given. After 3 weeks,
  pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs were subjected to 15-min left anterior
  descending coronary artery occlusion followed by 2-h reperfusion. Myocardial
  segment function was determined by sonomicrometry. Tissue levels of ATP were
  determined in 2-h reperfused hearts. All inhibitors significantly decreased
  serum cholesterol level. The three lipophilic inhibitors
  resulted in a worsening of segment function in the reperfused myocardium, as
  compared with the vehicle group. The levels of ATP in the atorvastatin,
  fluvastatin, and cerivastatin groups were significantly lower than that in
  the vehicle group. These results confirm that lipophilic
  HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors enhance
  myocardial stunning in association with ATP reduction after ischemia and
  reperfusion.



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