ATLANTA — Rosuvastatin was more effective than atorvastatin in treating hyperlipidemia in a 6-week open-label trial in African Americans, Dr. Keith C. Ferdinand reported at a meeting sponsored by the International Society on Hypertension in Blacks.
The African American Rosuvastatin Investigation of Efficacy and Safety (ARIES) trial involved 774 adult African Americans with LDL cholesterol levels between 160 and 300 mg/dL and triglyceride levels below 400 mg/dL. They were randomized to receive either 10 or 20 mg per day of rosuvastatin (Crestor, AstraZeneca) or 10 or 20 mg per day of atorvastatin (Lipitor, Pfizer), reported Dr. Ferdinand, chief science officer of the Association of Black Cardiologists, Atlanta, and professor of clinical pharmacology at Xavier University College of Pharmacy in New Orleans. After 6 weeks, average LDL cholesterol levels were reduced significantly more in each of the rosuvastatin groups than they were in the corresponding atorvastatin groups. In fact, patients receiving the lower dose of rosuvastatin had a decline in LDL of about the same degree as patients receiving the higher dose of atorvastatin (Am. J. Cardiol. 2006;97:229–35). Similarly, rosuvastatin resulted in significantly greater reductions in total cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B than milligram-equivalent doses of atorvastatin. The ratios of LDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol to HDL cholesterol, and apo B to apo A-I were also significantly better in patients taking rosuvastatin than in those taking atorvastatin.
Dr. Ferdinand has received grants from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Merck. The meeting was cosponsored by the American Society of Hypertension. The ARIES study was sponsored by AstraZeneca.