Efficacy and safety of statins in the treatment of diabetic dyslipidemia.

BACKGROUND

The Adult Treatment Panel III recommends 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors or statins as first-line-lipid-altering therapy for all adult patients with diabetes mellitus. This is based on the well-characterized efficacy and safety profiles of this class of agents as well as several clinical trials demonstrating that statin treatment reduces the risk of cardiovascular events.

AIM: The objective of our study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of statin therapy in patients with diabetes type 2.

METHODS

We analyzed data from 120 individuals with diabetes type 2. For all patients, the mean baseline LDL-cholesterol level was 4.26 +/- 0.82 mmol per liter, the total cholesterol level was 6.52 +/- 0.75 mmol/l, HDL-cholesterol level was 1.15 +/- 0.31 mmol/l and triglyceride level was 1.77 +/- 0.67 mmol/l.

RESULTS

There was a significant reduction in total cholesterol (P = 2.10-3) and LDL-cholesterol (P = 5.10-4) with statins; the mean LDL-cholesterol level was reduced from 4.26 +/- 0.82 mmol/l at baseline to 2.8 +/- 0.59 mmol/l at 12 months. The percentage variation of LDL-cholesterol was between 24 and 35%; in addition, the percentage reduction of total cholesterol was between 22 and 28%, the mean reduction in TG levels was between 11 and 16%. There was a no significant increasing in HDL cholesterol. Among these 120 patients, 5.1% had a moderate CK elevation. Moreover 2% had a significant elevation of transaminase levels. Statins have also been associated with muscle-related adverse events; so milder complaints (myalgia) are reported by approximately 3.6% of patients who take statins.

CONCLUSION

Statins as highly efficacious agents for the lowering of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) revolutionized treatment of hypercholesterolemia, a long established risk factor for premature coronary heart disease and they are not only exhibit a remarkely high benefit to risk ration, but are equally characterized by a safety profile with excellent tolerance.