Crestor medication, rosuvastatin drug information
Crestor is a pharmaceutical drug prescribed along with diet for lowering high cholesterol and has been prescribed by doctors to prevent heart disease, heart attacks, or strokes. Crestor is not appropriate for everyone, including women who are nursing, pregnant, or who may become pregnant, or anyone with liver problems. Crestor lowers high cholesterol level and may reduce the risk for stroke and heart disease. What has not been determined yet is whether overall mortality changes with the use of Crestor considering its high cost and potential side effects.
Crestor and HDL Cholesterol
level
Dose-dependent Effect of Rosuvastatin Treatment on HDL-subfraction Phenotype in
Patients With Primary Hyperlipidemia.
J Cardiovasc Pharmacol Ther. 2009.
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece.
Although the raising effect of Crestor on high-density lipoprotein
cholesterol is well-established, there is a paucity of data regarding the effect
of this statin on the high-density lipoprotein subfraction phenotype. A total of
150 participants without evidence of cardiovascular disease were randomized to
therapeutic lifestyle modification (nonstatin-treated group) or to therapeutic
lifestyle modification plus Crestor. Treatment
increased the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol by increasing the cholesterol
mass only of the larger high-density lipoprotein particles in a dose-dependent
manner.
Rosuvastating and aortic stenosis
The progression of asymptomatic aortic stenosis is
slowed by treatment with Crestor, according to results of the RAAVE (Rosuvastatin Affecting Aortic Valve Endothelium) study.
The risk factors for calcific aortic stenosis are similar to those for coronary
heart disease, senior author Dr. Nalini M. Rajamannan and her associates note.
For that reason, they hypothesized that statin treatment may slow aortic valve
calcification.
Dr. Rajamannan, from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in
Chicago, and her team conducted a prospective study with 121 patients to
determine if Crestor treatment affects the hemodynamic progression of
moderate to severe aortic stenosis.
The subjects had asymptomatic aortic stenosis and an aortic valve area between
1.0 and 1.5 cm² (normal aortic valve area = 3-4 cm²). Sixty patients with LDL
cholesterol less than 130 mg/dL received no statins, while
the 61 patients with higher LDL cholesterol levels were treated with
rosuvastatin at 20 mg per day.
After a mean of 73 weeks, Dr. Rajamannan's group compared outcomes between
groups. Adverse changes in hemodynamic markers - decrease in aortic valve area,
increase in peak aortic valve velocity, peak gradient and mean gradient -- were
significantly greater in the untreated group.
For example, aortic valve area decreased by 0.10 cm²/year in untreated patients
versus 0.05 cm²/year in those treated with
Crestor; peak aortic
valve velocity increased by 0.24 m/s/year versus 0.04 m/s/year, respectively.
Several serum markers improved significantly only in the treated group - total
cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and high-sensitivity C reactive
protein.
The research team suggests that in addition to their lipid-lowering effects,
statins affect aortic stenosis by inhibiting cellular proliferation. Statins
also reduce activation of the osteogenic gene program in the aortic valve
myofibroblast and modulate endothelial nitric oxide synthase to improve
endothelial function.
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Brian P. Griffin, from Cleveland Clinic in
Ohio, points out that the result of the similar SALTIRE study indicated that
statin therapy was of no benefit to patients with aortic stenosis and
hyperlipidemia.
J Am Coll Cardiology 2007.
Comments: What has not been
determined yet is whether overall mortality changes with the use of rosuvastatin
considering its high cost and potential side effects.
Crestor is by astrazeneca for the use as a medication
for high cholesterol