Combination lipid-lowering therapy with statins: safety issues in the postcerivastatin era

Combination lipid-altering regimens represent an emerging clinical paradigm to meet increasingly stringent consensus lipoprotein targets for coronary prevention. This practice, together with escalating prevalences of coronary artery disease in certain ageing (western industrial) populations, polypharmacy in the elderly and the recent voluntary market withdrawal of cerivastatin, warrants a re-examination of the safety profiles of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl co-enzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (i.e., statins). These agents are exceedingly well-tolerated in the vast majority of patients, very infrequently precipitating musculoskeletal symptoms and/or signs. Statins vary in their pharmacological profiles, leading to distinct levels of systemic exposure and capacities to penetrate skeletal myocytes. Pharmacokinetic interactions with certain agents increase the likelihood of statin-induced myopathy and, in exceedingly rare instances, potentially fatal rhabdomyolysis with myoglobinuria and renal failure. As with other medical decisions, the anticipated benefits of long-term statin therapy, with or without other lipid-altering agents, need to be weighed against the prospects of clinically significant drug interactions. In clinical trials and postmarketing surveillance, the two statins that are not metabolised by the cytochrome P450 3A4 system (fluvastatin and pravastatin) have exhibited very low propensities to elicit myopathy when combined with other agents. These agents should be considered initially when contemplating combination lipid-lowering regimens for coronary prevention.