Pravastatin in diabetes-associated hypercholesterolemia

Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM), type 1 and type 2, have an increased risk of coronary heart disease as a result of accelerated atherosclerosis. Dyslipidemia, often found in these patients, plays an important role in this process. This study investigates the efficacy and safety of lipid-lowering therapy with pravastatin, a 3-HMG-Coenzym A reductase inhibitor in hypercholesterolemic type-1 and type-2 diabetic patients. Of 49 patients (22 type-1 DM and 27 type-2 DM), 24 patients were treated with pravastatin, 20 mg/day, and 25 patients with placebo. After 24 weeks, total cholesterol (TC) was decreased by 22.2%, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by 25.8% and triglycerides (TG) by 13.6%. Pravastatin treatment did not induce a significant change in high-density (HDL) cholesterol levels. No differences in effects of pravastatin treatment on serum lipids and lipoproteins were found with respect to the diabetes type. No serious side effects occurred and pravastatin treatment did not cause any deterioration in glycemia control. The data suggest that pravastatin is effective and safe in the treatment of dyslipidemia in both type-1 and type-2 diabetic patients.