Statin Associated Muscle Symptoms: Characteristics of Patients and Recommendations by Providers*

The neuroprotective effect of statin in traumatic brain injury: A systematic review

Despite recent encouraging pharmaceutical and technical breakthroughs in neurosurgical critical care, traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related mortality and morbidity remain substantial clinical issues. Medication of statins was revealed to enhance outcomes following TBI in animal research. In addition to their main role of decreasing serum cholesterol, statins decrease inflammation and enhance cerebral blood flow. However, research on the efficacy of statins in TBI is still limited. This systematic review was conducted to determine the efficacy of statins in enhancing the clinical outcomes of TBI individuals, and specifically investigate the optimal dose and form of statins. The databases of PubMed, DOAJ, EBSCO, and Cochrane were extensively researched. The date of publication within the last fifteen years was the inclusion criterion. Meta-analyses, clinical trials, and randomized controlled trials were prioritized forms of research publications. Ambiguous remarks, irrelevant correlations to the main issue, or a focus on disorders other than TBI were the exclusion criteria. Thirteen research were included in this study. Simvastatin, atorvastatin, and rosuvastatin were the main form of statins discussed in this study. Enhancement of the Glasgow Coma Scale, survival rates, hospital length of stay, and cognitive outcomes were revealed in this study. This study suggests either simvastatin 40 mg, atorvastatin 20 mg, or rosuvastatin 20 mg for 10 days as the optimal therapeutic forms and doses to be applied in the management of TBI. Pre-TBI statin use was linked to lower risk of mortality in TBI individuals compared to nonusers, whereas statin discontinuation was linked to an increase in mortality.

Efficacy and Safety of Pitavastatin in a Real-World Setting: Observational Study Evaluating SaFety in Patient Treated with Pitavastatin in Korea (PROOF Study)

BACKGROUND

While randomized controlled trials provide useful information about drug safety and efficacy, they do not always reflect the observed results in the real world. The prospective, observational, non-comparative trial in South Korea was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pitavastatin in clinical practice in 28,343 patients.

METHODS

This study was conducted in 893 facilities in Korea from April 2, 2012 to April 1, 2017. This study was designed to administer 1, 2, or 4 mg pitavastatin to patients with hyperlipidemia at the age of 20 or older for at least 8 weeks.

RESULTS

For 126 days of mean duration of administration of pitavastatin, the % change of low density lipoprotein cholesterol indicated a dose dependent reduction: -23.4%, -29.1%, and -35.2% in the 1, 2, and 4 mg groups, respectively in patients who have not been treated with lipid lowering medications prior to study. Only 1.74% (492/28,343) of pitavastatin-treated patients experienced adverse events, of which 0.43% (123/28,343) were adverse drug reactions. Less than 1% of patients experienced the grade 2 or more toxicity (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.03) in alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, serum creatinine, and serum creatine phosphokinase. Although there were no rhabdomyolysis in 28,343 patients, 0.04% of patients had been reported pitavastatin-related musculoskeletal disorders.

CONCLUSION

Overall, this observational study showed that pitavastatin was well tolerated and effectively modified the lipid profile, reducing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular risk in Korean patients with hypercholesterolemia in the real world.

Validation of a clinically-relevant rodent model of statin-associated muscle symptoms for use in pharmacological studies

Various rodent models of statin-associated muscle symptoms (SAMS) have been used to investigate the aetiology of statin myotoxicity. Variability between these models, however, may be contributing to the ambiguity currently surrounding the pathogenesis of SAMS. Furthermore, few studies have assessed the reproducibility of these models. The aim of this study was to compare two established rodent models of statin myotoxicity, differing in treatment duration and dose, to determine which reproducibly caused changes characteristic of SAMS. Isolated skeletal muscle organ bath experiments, biochemical analyses, real-time quantitative-PCR and biometric assessments were used to compare changes in skeletal muscle and renal integrity in statin-treated animals and time-matched control groups. The SIM80 model (80 mg kg^-1 day^-1 simvastatin for 14 days) produced fibre-selective skeletal muscle damage characteristic of SAMS. Indeed, fast-twitch gastrocnemius muscles showed increased Atrogin-1 expression, reduced peak force of contraction and decreased Myh2 expression while slow-twitch soleus muscles were unaffected. Contrastingly, the SIM50 model (50 mg kg^-1 day^-1 simvastatin for 30 days) produced little evidence of significant skeletal muscle damage. Neither statin treatment protocol caused significant pathological changes to the kidney. The results of this study indicate that the SIM80 model induces a type of SAMS in rodents that resembles the presentation of statin-induced myalgia in humans. The findings support that the SIM80 model is reproducible and can thus be reliably used as a platform to assess the aetiology and treatment of this condition.