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Statins Effective In Kidney Transplants
Norwegian scientists have found the response of kidney transplant patients to the drug fluvastatin isn't influenced by their genetic composition.
Fluvastatin is often prescribed for people receiving a transplanted kidney since they are at risk of developing potentially fatal premature cardiovascular disease. Although Fluvastatin significantly reduces myocardial infarction and cardiac death, patients’ genetic makeup has been reported to prevent similar cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as pravastatin, from properly working.
But the study by Hallvard Holdaas and colleagues at Norway's National Hospital in Oslo showed genetic variations don't increase risks of developing a cardiovascular disease or a kidney disease.
Consequently, statin therapy continues to be recommended to patients who received a transplanted kidney, regardless of their genetic makeup, the researchers concluded.
The study that included Jonathan Singer, Alan Jardine, Bengt Fellstrom, Ingrid Os, Georgina Bermann and Joann Meyer appears in the Journal of Lipid Research.