title: Effects of lipid-lowering therapy with strong statin on serum polyunsaturated fatty acid levels in patients with coronary artery disease.
abstract: Residual risk of cardiovascular events after treatment with stain might be explained in part because patients have low levels of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). We examined how lipid-lowering therapy with strong statin affected serum PUFA levels in patients with coronary artery disease. The study population consisted of 46 patients with coronary artery disease whose low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol was more than 100 mg/dl. Lipid-lowering therapy was performed with a strong statin including atorvastatin (n = 22), rosuvastatin (n = 9) or pitavastatin (n = 15). Serum PUFA levels were determined by gas chromatography. The treatment with strong statin decreased the sum of dihomo-γ-linolenic acid (DGLA) and arachidonic acid (AA) levels (195 ± 41 to 184 ± 44 μg/ml, P < 0.05) as well as the sum of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels (233 ± 71 to 200 ± 72 μg/ml, P < 0.001). These effects of strong statin resulted in a significant decrease in ratio of the sum of EPA and DHA levels to the sum of DGLA and AA levels (1.20 ± 0.27 to 1.10 ± 0.35, P < 0.05). The percent decrease in the LDL cholesterol level correlated significantly with that in the sum of EPA and DHA levels (r = 0.38, P < 0.01). In conclusion, our results showed that lipid-lowering therapy with strong statin mainly reduced n-3 PUFAs in proportion to the decrease in the LDL cholesterol level in patients with coronary artery disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3 Kasumi-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Japan. skurisu@nifty.com
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kurisu
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishibashi
authors.forename: Yasuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Naoya
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mitsuba
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Dohi
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishioka
authors.forename: Yasuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kihara
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents; D008055:Lipids