Comparative efficacy of pitavastatin and simvastatin in patients with hypercholesterolemia: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials

• Main Authors: Ma N (Author), Cui LQ (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Dove Medical Press, 2015-03-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 1177-8881
• Keywords: Therapeutics. Pharmacology; RM1-950
• Source: Drug Design, Development and Therapy, Vol 2015, Iss default, Pp 1859-1864 (2015)

Ning Ma,1,2 Lianqun Cui1 1Department of Cardiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, 2Department of Cardiology, Heze Municipal Hospital, Heze, Shandong, People's Republic of China Background: Simvastatin is a statin used to lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, but has limitations in patients on complicated regimens due to concerns about drug-drug interactions. Pitavastatin is a newly developed statin with limited drug-drug interactions. We conducted a meta-analysis to compare the clinical efficacy of simvastatin and pitavastatin in the control of hypercholesterolemia.Methods: Randomized clinical trials comparing the efficacy of pitavastatin and simvastatin were identified by searching PubMed (2000–2014) and EMBASE (2000–2014). The primary outcome subjected to meta-analysis was percent change in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol compared with baseline.Results: Four clinical trials were selected for meta-analysis. A total of 908 patients treated with pitavastatin (2 or 4 mg/day) and 381 patients treated with simvastatin (20 or 40 mg/day) were included in the final statistical analysis. No statistically significant difference was identified between treatment with pitavastatin 4 mg/day and treatment with simvastatin 40 mg/day for 12 weeks (mean difference -0.66; 95% confidence interval -2.92, 1.61; P=0.57). Similarly, no statistically significant difference was observed between pitavastatin 2 mg/day and simvastatin 20 mg/day for 4 weeks (mean difference -2.19; 95% confidence interval -0.11, 4.49; P=0.06). Treatment with pitavastatin was noninferior to simvastatin in all of the secondary outcomes and the safety profile was similar between the two statins.Conclusion: Pitavastatin is noninferior to simvastatin in lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.Keywords: pitavastatin, simvastatin, hypercholesterolemia, meta-analysis