Atorvastatin Decreases the Coenzyme Q10 Level in the Blood of Patients at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke

Abstract

Ever since their introduction in the US Pharmacopoeia at the end of the 1980s, statins (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors) have been widely and successfully used for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and coronary artery disease and for the prevention of stroke. New evidence suggests that the effect of statins on the vascular system may not be mediated by their lipid-lowering properties, but rather by their anti-inflammatory (antiatherosclerotic) action. These "wonder drugs," however, have also been associated with various adverse effects, most commonly involving muscle and ranging from myalgia to muscle breakdown and myoglobinuria.^1-3 In the case of cerivastatin sodium (Baycol), the adverse effects were so common and severe that the drug was withdrawn from the market.