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Atorvastatin Has No Clinical Effect on Gonadal or Adrenal Steroid Hormones
A DGReview of :"Atorvastatin treatment does not affect gonadal and adrenal hormones in type 2 diabetes patients with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia"
Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis
11/03/2003
By Mary Beth Nierengarten
Atorvastatin therapy for hypercholesterolaemia has no clinical effect on gonadal or adrenal steroid hormones in patients with type 2 diabetes, reports a study from Italy.
Atorvastatin, a second generation synthetic 3-hydroxy 3-mthylglutaryl-coenzyme-A reductase inhibitor, is used treat hypercholesterolaemia, a condition that must be aggressively treated in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, along with reducing intracellular cholesterol synthesis and serum cholesterol levels, atorvastatin may also negatively effect gonadal and adrenal steroidogenesis.
SA Santini, MD and colleagues, Catholic University of Medicine, Rome conducted a study to assess the effect of atorvastatin on gonadal and adrenal hormones in a cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes. Therapeutic doses of atorvastatin (20 mg/day) were given to 24 patients with type 2 diabetes (16 males, 8 postmenopausal females) with mild (LDL-cholesterol of 150.1 ± 32.0 mg/dl) or moderate (LDL-cholesterol of 189.9 ± 32.9 mg/dl) hypercholesterolaemia. Patients were evaluated before and after 3 months of atorvastatin therapy.
Measurements taken from all patients included lipids and serum cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S), androstendione, and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). Testosterone and free testosterone index were also measured in males.
A significant decrease in total and LDL cholesterol was observed after atorvastatin therapy (P < .05), with no significant changes in HDL-cholesterol. Significance was not found in any of the patients between steroid hormones measured before or after administration of atorvastatin.
The authors conclude that atorvastatin does not clinically effect gonadal or adrenal steroid hormones in patients with type 2 diabetes.
J Atheroscler Thromb 2003;10:3:160-4.
"Atorvastatin treatment does not affect gonadal and adrenal hormones in type 2 diabetes patients with mild to moderate hypercholesterolemia"
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