[Variability of the hypolipidemic action of simvastatin and fluvastatin in patients with primary hyperlipoproteinemia]

Abstract

Aim: To reveal the metabolic parameters of lipoproteins (L), which determine the benefits of hypolipidemic effects of simvastatin (S) and fluvastatin (F); to trace changes in the activity of lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCA) and cholesterol (C) ester transfer (CET) from high density lipoproteins to very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and low density lipoproteins (LDL) and the levels of apoE in the blood and in some L classes during therapy with the above drugs.

Materials and methods: Thirty six patients took S, 10 mg/day, and 25 received F, 20 mg/day, for 3 months. The levels of lipids were measured by enzyme assays, apoprotein (apo) was determined by immunoturbidimetry and immunodiffusion.

Results: The hypocholesterolemic and hypotriglyceridemic effect of S (19.6 and 25.5, respectively) and F (19.0 and 30.5%) were similar. With S, the reduction in the blood levels of C and LDL C positively correlated with the baseline apoE levels. With F, it did with C and LDL C before treatment. Lower blood apoE was found with S and F and lower HDL apoE/(VLDL + LDL) ratio was detected only with F. F treatment significantly lowered the activity of CET and LCA; before and after S treatment, they did not differ significantly.

Conclusion: Analyzing the relationship between the benefits of the hypolipidemic effect and the baseline parameters of L metabolism indicates that the changes in serum C, LDL C and HDL C are due to the composition of HDL particles and the distribution of apoE among different L classes in the patient to a greater degree.