Treatment Options for Hypercholesterolemia and Combined Dyslipidemia: Focus on Pitavastatin

Pitavastatin is one of the most effective treatment agents for lowering serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. Because pitavastatin is scarcely metabolized, the risk of drug-drug interactions during multidrug therapy is low, and the LDL-C target is achieved in the majority of patients. The incidence of adverse events associated with pitavastatin treatment has so far been comparable to or lower than that associated with other statins, and glucose metabolism is not affected by the drug. Pitavastatin promotes plaque regression and improves the plaque composition in patients with acute coronary syndrome. The serum level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) during treatment with pitavastatin was demonstrated to be inversely associated with the incidence of cardiovascular events. Because of its effective and sustained action to increase HDL-C, pitavastatin is expected to contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular events, in addition to its potent LDL-C lowering effect, especially in patients with low serum HDL-C levels.