Effects of morning versus evening administration of atorvastatin in patients with hyperlipidemia.
OBJECTIVE
The effects of morning versus evening administration of atorvastatin in hyperlipidemic patients were studied.


METHODS
Patients whose care was managed by a teaching hospital run by the Department of Veterans Affairs who were prescribed atorvastatin calcium 40 mg p.o. daily by their primary care physician were interviewed by a clinical pharmacist in the ambulatory care clinic for study enrollment. Patients were excluded if they had diseases or conditions or took medication known to affect serum lipoprotein levels, as were patients who consumed more than three alcoholic drinks per day and those who could not verify the time of atorvastatin administration. Blood samples were collected after a 12-hour fasting period and serum lipoprotein levels were measured at baseline and after four weeks.


RESULTS
Of the 204 hyperlipidemic patients receiving atorvastatin, 64 met the inclusion criteria and were enrolled in the study, 32 of whom took the drug in the morning (before noon) and an equal number who took the drug at night (after 6 p.m. but before midnight). All patients were male outpatients with a mean +/- S.D. age of 57.8 +/- 7.8 years and 58.5 +/- 7.8 years for the morning and evening administration groups, respectively. No statistically significant differences in lipid values measured were found between the morning and evening administration group after four weeks.


CONCLUSIONS
Changes in the levels of total cholesterol, low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol were similar among hyperlipidemic patients receiving atorvastatin calcium 40 mg, regardless of the time of day the drug was administered.
Plakogiannis
Roda
R
Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University (LIU), 75 DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11201-5497, USA. roda.piakogiannis@liu.edu
Cohen
Henry
H
Taft
David
D
D000069059:Atorvastatin; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D019454:Chronotherapy; D006538:Heptanoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
D006538:Heptanoic Acids; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D011758:Pyrroles; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol; D000069059:Atorvastatin