New Drug Approvals: Pitavastatin: A New HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitor

Abstract

In light of the lack of outcome data, pitavastatin offers no clear advantage over other drugs in this class.

Pitavastatin Increases ABCA1 Expression by Dual Mechanisms: SREBP2-Driven Transcriptional Activation and PPARα-Dependent Protein Stabilization but Without Activating LXR in Rat Hepatoma McARH7777 Cells

“…As a result of statin treatment, intracellular cholesterol concentrations are decreased, which leads to activation of the transcription factor, sterol responsive element-binding protein-2 (SREBP2), which regulates several genes controlling cholesterol homeostasis, including low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor (12,13). Plasma LDL concentrations are decreased as a consequence of increased LDL clearance.…”

Is there a role for statins in fungal infections?

“…Pravastatin are mainly metabolized by sulfation [14]. In addition, one of the more recently introduced statins, pitavastatin, is mainly metabolized by glucuronidation and only to a limited extent via CYP2C9 [15]. Since CYP enzymes metabolize many drugs, the risk of drug-drug interaction is more pronounced for statins that are metabolized by CYP enzymes [16].…”

“…Notably, pravastatin is an important exception, since this statin is not metabolized by the CYP450 enzymatic system [14]. This exception also applies to pitavastatin, which mainly is eliminated by glucuronidation [15]. Thus, both pravastatin and pitavastatin are interesting candidates for clinical studies of synergy between statins and traditional antifungal drugs.…”

Editoriale - Infezione da HIV e gestione delle malattie cardiovascolari: molta strada ancora da fare

“…È previsto l'arruolamento di 6500 pazienti di età compresa tra 40 e 75 anni che verranno assegnati in modo casuale a ricevere pitavastatina 4 mg al giorno o placebo, con un periodo di follow-up pianificato di 6 anni. La pitavastatina è una statina di più recente introduzione che per le sue caratteristiche farmacocinetiche ha scarse interazioni con farmaci antiretrovirali (6). L'end-point composito definito nello studio prevede l'analisi delle morti per malattia cardiovascolare e l'incidenza di eventi quali l'infarto miocardico, l'angina instabile, l'ictus e la rivascolarizzazione arteriosa.…”