This article is about cholesterol-lowering drugs. For the amino acid, see statine. For inhibiting hormones, see releasing and inhibiting hormones.
Not to be confused with Stalin.
Statin
Drug class
Lovastatin, a compound isolated from Aspergillus terreus, was the first statin to be marketed.
Class identifiers
Synonyms
HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors
Use
High cholesterol
ATC code
C10AA
Biological target
HMG-CoA reductase
Clinical data
Drugs.com
Drug Classes
External links
MeSH
D019161
Legal status
In Wikidata
Statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are a class of medications that reduce illness and mortality in people who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease. They are the most commonly prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs.[1]
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) carriers of cholesterol play a key role in the development of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease via the mechanisms described by the lipid hypothesis. As lipid-lowering medications, statins are effective in lowering LDL cholesterol and so are widely used for primary prevention in people at high risk of cardiovascular disease, as well as in secondary prevention for those who have developed cardiovascular disease.[2][3][4]
Side effects of statins include muscle pain, increased risk of diabetes, and abnormal blood levels of certain liver enzymes.[5] Additionally, they have rare but severe adverse effects, particularly muscle damage, and very rarely rhabdomyolysis.[6][7]
They act by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which plays a central role in the production of cholesterol. High cholesterol levels have been associated with cardiovascular disease.[8]
There are various forms of statins, some of which include atorvastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, pitavastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin, and simvastatin.[9] Combination preparations of a statin and another agent, such as ezetimibe/simvastatin, are also available. The class is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines with simvastatin being the listed medicine.[10] In 2005, sales were estimated at US$18.7 billion in the United States.[11] The best-selling statin is atorvastatin, also known as Lipitor, which in 2003 became the best-selling pharmaceutical in history.[12] The manufacturer Pfizer reported sales of US$12.4 billion in 2008.[13]
Patient compliance with statin usage has been problematic for many medical practitioners, despite robust evidence of the benefits to the majority of patients.[14][15]
^"Cholesterol Drugs". American Heart Association. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
^Alenghat FJ, Davis AM (February 2019). "Management of Blood Cholesterol". JAMA. 321 (8): 800–801. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.0015. PMC 6679800. PMID 30715135.
^National Clinical Guideline Centre (UK) (July 2014). Lipid Modification: Cardiovascular Risk Assessment and the Modification of Blood Lipids for the Primary and Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence: Guidance. London: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (UK). PMID 25340243. NICE Clinical Guidelines, No. 181 – via NIH National Library of Medicine.
^Taylor F, Huffman MD, Macedo AF, Moore TH, Burke M, Davey Smith G, et al. (January 2013). "Statins for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2013 (1): CD004816. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004816.pub5. PMC 6481400. PMID 23440795.
^Naci H, Brugts J, Ades T (July 2013). "Comparative tolerability and harms of individual statins: a study-level network meta-analysis of 246 955 participants from 135 randomized, controlled trials". Circulation. Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. 6 (4): 390–399. doi:10.1161/CIRCOUTCOMES.111.000071. PMID 23838105. S2CID 18340552.
^Abd TT, Jacobson TA (May 2011). "Statin-induced myopathy: a review and update". Expert Opinion on Drug Safety. 10 (3): 373–387. doi:10.1517/14740338.2011.540568. PMID 21342078. S2CID 207487287.
^"Should you be worried about severe muscle pain from statins?". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
^Lewington S, Whitlock G, Clarke R, Sherliker P, Emberson J, Halsey J, et al. (December 2007). "Blood cholesterol and vascular mortality by age, sex, and blood pressure: a meta-analysis of individual data from 61 prospective studies with 55,000 vascular deaths". Lancet. 370 (9602): 1829–1839. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61778-4. PMID 18061058. S2CID 54293528.
^Sweetman SC, ed. (2009). "Cardiovascular drugs". Martindale: the complete drug reference (36th ed.). London: Pharmaceutical Press. pp. 1155–1434. ISBN 978-0-85369-840-1.
^World Health Organization (2019). World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 21st list 2019. Geneva: World Health Organization. hdl:10665/325771. WHO/MVP/EMP/IAU/2019.06. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
^Taylor FC, Huffman M, Ebrahim S (December 2013). "Statin therapy for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease". JAMA. 310 (22): 2451–2452. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.281348. PMID 24276813.
^Cite error: The named reference Simons was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Doing Things Differently" Archived 12 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Pfizer 2008 Annual Review, 23 April 2009, p. 15.
^Maningat P, Gordon BR, Breslow JL (January 2013). "How do we improve patient compliance and adherence to long-term statin therapy?". Current Atherosclerosis Reports. 15 (1): 291. doi:10.1007/s11883-012-0291-7. PMC 3534845. PMID 23225173.
^Tarn D, Pletcher M, Tosqui R (June 2021). "Primary nonadherence to statin medications: Survey of patient perspectives". Preventive Medicine Reports. 22: 101357. doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101357. PMC 8020471. PMID 33842201.
Statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are a class of medications that reduce illness and mortality in people who are at high risk of cardiovascular...
Atorvastatin is a statin medication used to prevent cardiovascular disease in those at high risk and to treat abnormal lipid levels. For the prevention...
HMG-CoA (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA) reductase inhibitors, called statins, was a breakthrough in the prevention of hypercholesterolemia and related...
Rosuvastatin, sold under the brand name Crestor among others, is a statin medication, used to prevent cardiovascular disease in those at high risk and...
Generally it is used together with dietary changes and a statin. Alone, it is less preferred than a statin. It is taken by mouth. It is also available in the...
ameliorated SAMSs [statin‐associated muscle symptoms], implying that CoQ10 supplementation might be a complementary approach to ameliorate statin‐induced myopathy...
commonly used compared than statins because it treats a different type of cholesterol abnormality to statins. While statins have strong evidence for reducing...
with a statin or statin with other lipid-lowering therapies in patients unable to reach LDL-C goals with the maximum tolerated dose of a statin; or alone...
Hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (HMG-CoA inhibitors or statins) Statins may sometimes cause myalgia and cramps among other possible side effects...
the United States and other countries. Lovastatin and other prescription statin drugs inhibit cholesterol synthesis by blocking action of the enzyme HMG-CoA...
Simvastatin, sold under the brand name Zocor among others, is a statin, a type of lipid-lowering medication. It is used along with exercise, diet, and...
with a statin or statin with other lipid-lowering therapies in people unable to reach LDL-C goals with the maximum tolerated dose of a statin, or alone...
low risk, the use of statin therapy depends on individual patient factors such as age, cholesterol levels, and risk factors. Statins are considered the...
begins with the mevalonate or HMG-CoA reductase pathway, the target of statin drugs, which encompasses the first 18 steps. This is followed by 19 additional...
Erythromycin is an antibiotic used for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections. This includes respiratory tract infections, skin infections,...
member of the blood cholesterol lowering medication class of statins. Like other statins, it is an inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, the enzyme that catalyses...
Pravastatin, sold under the brand name Pravachol among others, is a statin medication, used for preventing cardiovascular disease in those at high risk...
(2015-10-13). "Clinical Effectiveness of Statin Therapy After Ischemic Stroke: Primary Results From the Statin Therapeutic Area of the Patient-Centered...
specifically PPARα, to decrease free fatty acid production. Statin drugs, especially the synthetic statins (atorvastatin and rosuvastatin) can decrease LDL levels...
a day was generally comparable for people over age 50 years to using a statin drug to reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, concluding that eating...
challenges the scientific consensus on cholesterol, saturated fat and statins. She has argued that high-blood cholesterol and high saturated fat consumption...
cholesterol levels in the blood. Statins are the typically used medications, in addition to healthy lifestyle interventions. Statins can reduce total cholesterol...
known as mevalonate and is of major pharmaceutical importance. Drugs like statins (which lower levels of cholesterol) stop the production of mevalonate by...
cholesterol for adults whose cholesterol is not controlled by diet and statin treatment. It is a human monoclonal antibody that belongs to a novel class...