Abstract
Plasma coenzyme Q (CoQ) was measured in 20 hyperlipidaemic patients treated with diet and simvastatin (an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) reductase); 22 hyperlipidaemic patients treated with diet with alone; and 20 normal controls. Patients treated with simvastatin had a significantly lower plasma CoQ and CoQ: cholesterol ratio than either patients receiving diet alone or normal controls. Use of simvastatin was inversely and independently correlated with both CoQ (p < 0.0001) and CoQ: cholesterol ratio (p < 0.01). There was a significant inverse association between CoQ and dose of simvastatin (p < 0.001). It is concluded that simvastatin may lower the plasma CoQ concentration and this may be greater than the reduction in cholesterol. The possible adverse effect of simvastatin on the metabolism of CoQ may be clinically important and requires further study.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Elmberger P. G., Kalén A., Lund E., Reihnér E., Eriksson M., Berglund L., Angelin B., Dallner G. Effects of pravastatin and cholestyramine on products of the mevalonate pathway in familial hypercholesterolemia. J Lipid Res. 1991 Jun;32(6):935–940. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Folkers K., Langsjoen P., Willis R., Richardson P., Xia L. J., Ye C. Q., Tamagawa H. Lovastatin decreases coenzyme Q levels in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Nov;87(22):8931–8934. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.22.8931. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Grossi G., Bargossi A. M., Fiorella P. L., Piazzi S., Battino M., Bianchi G. P. Improved high-performance liquid chromatographic method for the determination of coenzyme Q10 in plasma. J Chromatogr. 1992 Feb 28;593(1-2):217–226. doi: 10.1016/0021-9673(92)80289-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Grundy S. M. HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors for treatment of hypercholesterolemia. N Engl J Med. 1988 Jul 7;319(1):24–33. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198807073190105. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Manoukian A. A., Bhagavan N. V., Hayashi T., Nestor T. A., Rios C., Scottolini A. G. Rhabdomyolysis secondary to lovastatin therapy. Clin Chem. 1990 Dec;36(12):2145–2147. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stocker R., Bowry V. W., Frei B. Ubiquinol-10 protects human low density lipoprotein more efficiently against lipid peroxidation than does alpha-tocopherol. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Mar 1;88(5):1646–1650. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.5.1646. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Willis R. A., Folkers K., Tucker J. L., Ye C. Q., Xia L. J., Tamagawa H. Lovastatin decreases coenzyme Q levels in rats. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Nov;87(22):8928–8930. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.22.8928. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]