Pravastatin in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia: Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol-lowering effect and LDL receptor activity on skin fibroblasts

Abstract The cholesterol-lowering effect of pravastatin, a new competitive inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, was studied in 10 patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Residual low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) activity was also evaluated in cultured skin fibroblasts prior to treatment, and showed a wide range of reduction from 30% to 70% of the normal value. Treatment with pravastatin 40 mg once daily reduced total and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) after 6 months by 19.7% and 25.4%, respectively ( P P r = .676, P