There have been a few studies testing for the safety and benefits of using statins, a cholesterol-lowering drug, in renal transplant recipients.
One of these is a double-blind randomized placebo controlled trial which studied the safety and efficacy of simvastatin for hyperlipidemia in renal transplant recipients, the results of which were published in the journal Transplant Proc.
This study demonstrated that the use of simvastatin in renal transplant recipients decreased their total cholesterol and LDL without significant side effects, thus decreasing a major risk factor in kidney recipients.
Sixty-seven adult renal transplant recipients were included in the study. All patients had cholesterol level higher that 200mg/dL.
Thirty-four participants took 10mg of simvastatin, while the remaining participants took placebo.
Lipid levels were assessed after 30, 90 and 180 days. At the end of the study, it was found out that there was a statistically significant reduction in low-density lipoprotein known as the bad cholesterol and total serum cholesterol.
There was a 34.6 percent reduction in LDL and 23.2 percent reduction in total serum cholesterol.
The participants taking simvastatin also had a 10.2 percent decrease in their triglyceride level, while the level of high-density lipoprotein otherwise known as good cholesterol had increased by seven percent.
The simvastatin group showed a trend toward liver enzymes but this trend was still within safe clinical ranges.
The study is extremely important for kidney patients with dyslipidemia, given their increased risk in developing CVD.
The prevalence of abnormal levels of lipids in the blood or dyslipidemia after a renal transplant ranges from 16 to 82 percent. Certainly, decreased cholesterol is a definite plus, both in the normal population as well as in kidney transplant recipients.
Statins have been shown to be one of the most potent drugs to lower cholesterol.
Although the effects of statins on cholesterol levels can be noticed in a relatively short span of time, the medicine should be taken for a long period of time to achieve the full benefit of the drug.
Unfortunately, treatment compliance is a problem among patients who cannot afford statins. As an answer to this problem, Therapharma, a division of Unilab, has introduced an affordable yet bioequivalent brand of simvastatin.
The introduction of an affordable statin is part of Unilab’s pharmacoeconomics campaign which aims to make healthcare more affordable to Filipinos.