Simvastatin-induced lupus-like syndrome.

The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors are widely used as cholesterol lowering agents that have an acceptable safety profile. As a group, this class of drugs has been associated with few immunologic reactions. Simvastatin (Zocor) has been linked to three cases of drug-induced lupus-like syndrome. We report the case of an additional patient who developed pleurisy and arthralgia after he started taking this low-density lipoprotein and cholesterol-lowering agent.