1. Academic Validation
  2. A comprehensive review on the lipid and pleiotropic effects of pitavastatin

A comprehensive review on the lipid and pleiotropic effects of pitavastatin

  • Prog Lipid Res. 2021 Nov;84:101127. doi: 10.1016/j.plipres.2021.101127.
Amirhossein Sahebkar 1 Nasim Kiaie 2 Armita Mahdavi Gorabi 2 Massimo R Mannarino 3 Vanessa Bianconi 3 Tannaz Jamialahmadi 4 Matteo Pirro 3 Maciej Banach 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Applied Biomedical Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran; Biotechnology Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran; School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. Electronic address: sahebkara@mums.ac.ir.
  • 2 Research Center for Advanced Technologies in Cardiovascular Medicine, Tehran Heart Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
  • 3 Unit of Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
  • 4 Department of Food Science and Technology, Quchan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Quchan, Iran; Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
  • 5 Department of Preventive Cardiology and Lipidology, Medical University of Lodz (MUL), Lodz, Poland; Cardiovascular Research Centre, University of Zielona Gora, Zielona-Gora, Poland. Electronic address: maciej.banach@umed.lodz.pl.
Abstract

The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, or statins, are administered as first line therapy for hypercholesterolemia, both in primary and secondary prevention. There is a growing body of evidence showing that beyond their lipid-lowering effect, statins have a number of additional beneficial properties. Pitavastatin is a unique lipophilic statin with a strong effect on lowering plasma total Cholesterol and triacylglycerol. It has been reported to have pleiotropic effects such as decreasing inflammation and oxidative stress, regulating angiogenesis and osteogenesis, improving endothelial function and arterial stiffness, and reducing tumor progression. Based on the available studies considering the risk of statin-associated muscle symptoms it seems to be also the safest statin. The unique lipid and non-lipid effects of pitavastatin make this molecule a particularly interesting option for the management of different human diseases. In this review, we first summarized the lipid effects of pitavastatin and then strive to unravel the diverse pleiotropic effects of this molecule.

Keywords

Hypercholesterolemia; Inflammation; Pitavastatin; Pleiotropic effects; Statin.

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