Amarin Corp Plc (AMRN)

[rdhitchcock]

Pitavastatin/Pravastatin and EPA/AA ratio

HD, thanks for the links. Just my opinion, but it seems not all statins are created equal. Check out this study on Pitavastatin(a.k.a. Livalo) and pravastatin. Not saying that I disagree that statins increase AA production, but these results are a little bit of a surprise. Not sure what to make of this, but thought some here might find this study of interest.

http://cpt.sagepub.com/content/18/4/320

Effects of Statins on Serum n-3 to n-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Ratios in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease


Background: A low n-3 to n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) ratio is reported to be associated with cardiovascular events. However, the effects of statins on this ratio have not been fully examined.


Methods: A total of 101 patients with coronary artery disease, who were not receiving lipid-lowering therapy were randomly assigned to receive either 4 mg/day of pitavastatin or 20 mg/day of pravastatin. Serum PUFA levels were measured at baseline and 8 months after treatment with statins.


Results: Pitavastatin was used to treat 51 patients and the remaining 50 patients were treated using pravastatin. A significant positive correlation was observed between the percent change in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and that in dihomogamma-linolenic acid (r = .376, P = .007), arachidonic acid (AA; r = .316, P = .02), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; r = .408, P = .003), or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; r = .270, P = .056) in the pitavastatin group. However, these correlations were not observed in the pravastatin group. The DHA/AA ratio decreased significantly in the pitavastatin group only (from 0.96 to 0.83, P = .0002) and the DHA/AA ratio was significantly lower in the pitavastatin group at 8 months (0.83 vs 0.96, P = .03). The EPA/AA ratio did not show significant changes in either group.


Conclusions: Pitavastatin decreased the serum DHA/AA ratio, whereas pravastatin had no effect on this ratio. Neither pitavastatin nor pravastatin had an effect on the serum EPA/AA ratio in patients with coronary artery disease.