Higher Efficacy of 10 mg/day of Simvastatin in Turkish Patients with Hyperlipidemia

This open-label single-arm multicenter prospective study tested the hypothesis whether Turkish patients were more sensitive to the LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering effect of simvastatin than Western populations. A total of 86 subjects with a mean age 54 ± 9 years (among whom 52 women) were enrolled who fulfilled the criteria of entry and exclusion. The effects of 6-week treatment period with 10 mg simvastatin a day in men and women on high baseline levels of LDL-C (177 and 214 mg/dl), total cholesterol (TC, 256 and 296 mg/dl), as well as on those of triglycerides (TG, 184 and 177 mg/dl) and HDL-C (41 and 48 mg/dl, respectively) were studied. An excellent overall mean decrease of 31.3% in LDL-C concentrations was attained with the stated low dose. Percent change values for TC, TG, and HDL-C were -23%, -4.5% and +5%, respectively, while TC/HDL-C ratio declined from 6.2 to 4.7. A significant reduction by 0.5 kg/m2 was associated in the mean body mass index. The presence of coronary heart disease or smoking status did not affect the change in LDL-C. From the data of the 4S study, it could be deduced that a 31% reduction in LDL-C would be achieved in a Scandinavian population with a daily simvastatin dose of 17 mg, a result obtained among Turks with a dose 41% less.