High density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-I are persistently elevated during long-term treatment with pitavastatin, a new HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor

Although a low level of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) is an important risk factor for coronary heart disease, few available agents are capable of significantly increasing HDL-C. This multicenter study demonstrated that administration of pitavastatin, a new HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, significantly and persistently increased HDL-C (from 36.0 ± 5.9 to 40.5 ± 9.1 mg/dL: p < 0.001) and apolipoprotein A-I levels (from 108.4 ± 18.0 to 118.7 ± 19.3 mg/dL: p < 0.01) in 43 hypercholesterolemic patients with low HDL-C over the course of 12 months of treatment. This suggests that pitavastatin may contribute to reduction in coronary heart disease. © 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.