Evaluation of Efficacy of Graded Doses of Atorvstatinon the Lipid Profile in the Indian Population

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in most countries in the world. Although statins are currently the most effective treatment for hypercholesterolaemia, the dose required to achieve low-densitylipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) reductions varies depending on the agent used. The dose also varies depending upon the ethnicity of the study population. Dyslipidaemia is highly under-treated in real-world clinical practice. Atorvastatin is a wellestablished member of the statin class that has demonstrated efficacy and safety in the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia across its dose range. To date, however, no large-scale studies have directly compared the benefits of atorvastatin at graded doses.

The study was conducted to evaluate the lipid-modifying effects of statins in the Indian population and to evaluate the susceptibility of Indians to the doses of statins. Moreover, we evaluated the percentage change in LDL-C from baseline to weeks 8, 16, 24 and 32 of treatment and the portion of patients who achieve target LDL-C levels after 8, 16, 24 and 32 weeks of treatment.

One hundred patients were included in the study (78 males and 22 females). After 8 weeks, dietary lead-in phase, during which all patients were counselled to consume AHA low-fat, lowcholesterol diet, participants were started on gradually incremental doses of atorvastatin from 10 to 20 and then 40 mg of atorvastatin depending upon their cholesterol levels.

Atorvastatin at the doses of 10, 20 and 40 mg was found to be a highly effective, safe and well-tolerated statin treatment fordyslipidaemia in this Indian sample population. Atorvastatin treatment was also associated with beneficial changes in other lipid parameters including Triglycerides (TGs), Total cholesterol (TC), non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio and total-C/HDL-C ratio. Greater decreases were produced with higher doses (40 mg) than with lower doses (10 and 20 mg). Increases in HDL-C were also observed in all treatment groups; however, these increases were not clinically significant.

Atorvastatin at all doses of 10, 20 and 40 mg was found to be a highly effective, safe and well-tolerated statin treatment for dyslipidaemia in this Indian sample population. A lower dose of atorvastatin, as compared with Western population, may just be required in the Indian population.