title: Reduction of serum ubiquinol-10 and ubiquinone-10 levels by atorvastatin in hypercholesterolemic patients.
abstract: Reduction of serum cholesterol levels with statin therapy decreases the risk of coronary heart disease. Inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase by statin results in decreased synthesis of cholesterol and other products downstream of mevalonate, which may produce adverse effects in statin therapy. We studied the reductions of serum ubiquinol-10 and ubiquinone-10 levels in hypercholesterolemic patients treated with atorvastatin. Fourteen patients were treated with 10 mg/day of atorvastatin, and serum lipid, ubiquinol-10 and ubiquinone-10 levels were measured before and after 8 weeks of treatment. Serum total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels decreased significantly. All patients showed definite reductions of serum ubiquinol-10 and ubiquinone-10 levels, and mean levels of serum ubiquinol-10 and ubiquinone-10 levels decreased significantly from 0.81 +/- 0.21 to 0.46 +/- 0.10 microg/ml (p < 0.0001), and from 0.10 +/- 0.06 to 0.06 +/- 0.02 microg/ml (p = 0.0008), respectively. Percent reductions of ubiquinol-10 and those of total cholesterol showed a positive correlation (r = 0.627, p = 0.0165). As atorvastatin reduces serum ubiquinol-10 as well as serum cholesterol levels in all patients, it is imperative that physicians are forewarned about the risks associated with ubiquinol-10 depletion.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics of Cardiovascular Disorders, Div of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Takara-machi 13-1, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-8641, Japan. mabuchi@med/kanazawa-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mabuchi
authors.forename: Toshinori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higashikata
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawashiri
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Katsuda
authors.forename: Mihoko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nohara
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Inazu
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000069059:Atorvastatin; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003067:Coenzymes; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006538:Heptanoic Acids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014451:Ubiquinone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D003067:Coenzymes; D006538:Heptanoic Acids; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D011758:Pyrroles; D014451:Ubiquinone; C026663:ubiquinol-10; D002784:Cholesterol; D000069059:Atorvastatin; C024989:coenzyme Q10