title: Alternate-day dosing of atorvastatin: effects in treating type 2 diabetic patients with dyslipidaemia.
abstract: An analysis is made of the effect of alternateday dosing of atorvastatin and standard once-daily dosing, based on mean low-density lipoprotein (LDL) reduction from baseline in type 2 diabetics. Forty-four type 2 diabetics were enrolled in the study. In compliance with American Diabetes Association (ADA) and National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel (NCEP-III) guidelines, LDL-C<100 mg/dl was chosen as the treatment target. Patients were assigned to 10 mg atorvastatin as an initial dose every day. The atorvastatin dose was doubled every 6 weeks if the patients failed to reach the treatment target. After achieving LDL<100 mg/dl, the patients were assigned to the corresponding atorvastatin dose every other day for 12 weeks. Thirty-three patients correctly completed the study. LDL-C decreased 39% after the every-day period and 23% after the alternate-day atorvastatin dosing period (p<0.05). The target LDL-C concentration of <100 mg/dl was maintained in 19 patients (57.6%) in the alternate-day period. None of the 33 patients showed elevations in liver enzymes or creatine kinase during the alternate-day dosing period. Alternate-day dosing of atorvastatin could be an effective and safe alternative to daily-dosing in some type 2 diabetic patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Diabetes, Department of Internal Medicine, Valencia University General Hospital, Valencia, Spain. ferrer_juagar@gva.es
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Ferrer-García
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pérez-Silvestre
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Martínez-Mir
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herrera-Ballester
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000069059:Atorvastatin; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006538:Heptanoic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011758:Pyrroles / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D006538:Heptanoic Acids; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D011758:Pyrroles; D000069059:Atorvastatin