Serum ubiquinone concentrations after short- and long-term treatment with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.
Serum ubiquinone levels were studied during long- and short-term treatment with 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors in 17 men with primary non-familial hypercholesterolaemia. The serum ubiquinone levels were determined after the patients had received simvastatin (20-40 mg per day) for 4.7 years, after a 4 week treatment pause and again after they had resumed treatment with lovastatin (20-40 mg per day) for 12 weeks. During the treatment pause the average serum ubiquinone levels increased by 32%; resumption of treatment caused a reduction of 25%. The changes in the levels of ubiquinone and serum total cholesterol as well as those of ubiquinone and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were closely parallel. This suggested that changes in serum ubiquinone reflected changes in cholesterol-containing serum lipoproteins which could serve as carrier vehicles for ubiquinone. After long-term simvastatin treatment and after short-term lovastatin treatment, average serum ubiquinone levels (1.16 and 1.22 mg.l-1, respectively) were similar to that observed in a group of apparently healthy middle-aged men (1.16 mg.l-1).
Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Helsinki, Finland.
R
R
Laaksonen
J P
JP
Ojala
M J
MJ
Tikkanen
J J
JJ
Himberg
D000328:Adult; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D006903:Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D008148:Lovastatin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019821:Simvastatin; D013997:Time Factors; D014451:Ubiquinone / Q000097:blood*
D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D014451:Ubiquinone; D008148:Lovastatin; D019821:Simvastatin; D006903:Hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA Reductases