Effectiveness of generic rosuvastatin in patients with ischaemic cerebrovascular disease

Abstract

Statin therapy is the cornerstone of anti-atherosclerotic treatment, and it considered obligatory in the secondary prevention of atherosclerotic diseases. Rosuvastatin is well-known and efficacious lipid-lowering agent. Generic drugs are more frequently used instead of its ancestors. Generic rosuvastatin forms have been approved recently to the Central European market, but their safety and efficacy have not been previously examined in cerebrovascular patient populations. 109 patients with documented ischaemic cerebrovascular events were included in our study. 20 mg generic rosuvastatin significantly decreased total cholesterol (5.47 vs. 3.88 mmol/l, p<0.01), low-density lipoprotein (3.16 vs. 1.84 mmol/l, p<0.01) and trigliceride levels (1.77 vs. 1.33 mmol/l, p<0.05, and there was a non-significant high-density lipoprotein increasing tendency (1.27 vs. 1.36 mmol/l, p = 0.08). There was also a significant decrease in high-sensitive C-reactive protein levels (3.73 vs. 2.82 mg/l, p<0.05). Overall, 30% decrease in total cholesterol, 42% decrease in low-density lipoprotein, 25% decrease in trigliceride and high-sensitive C-reactive protein and 9% increase in high-density lipoprotein levels were observed. The generic rosuvastatin studied by the authors proved to be safe and efficacious lipid-lowering agent. Based on these short term results, in daily practice, generic rosuvastatin treatment seems to be cost-effective for the treatment of patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease.