Achievement of specified lipid and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels with two statins in Chinese patients with hypercholesterolaemia

Background: Statins reduce plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels. Rosuvastatin 10 mg daily appears to be more potent in reducing LDL-C than simvastatin 40 mg, but the relative effect of these two statin doses on hsCRP is unknown. Methods: Chinese hyperlipidaemic patients with high cardiovascular risk or familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) were treated with rosuvastatin 10 mg and simvastatin 40 mg daily in an open-label crossover study. Lipid profiles were measured off treatment and after at least 4 weeks treatment with each of the two statins and hsCRP levels were measured on treatment with both statins. Results: Both treatments were well tolerated in 247 patients (age 55.7 +/- 11.1 years; 100 male; 140 with FH) with good treatment compliance. There were statistically significant differences (P < 0.001) for rosuvastatin versus simvastatin for LDL-C reduction (-52.4 +/- 11.9 % vs. -47.7 +/- 10.8 %) and on-treatment LDL-C (2.62 +/- 0.99 mmol/L vs. 2.86 +/- 0.97 mmol/L), respectively, but the on-treatment hsCRP levels (1.33 +/- 1.37 mg/L vs. 1.41 +/- 1.57 mg/L, P > 0.05) were not significantly different. The lipid target (LDL-C < 2.6 mmol/L) was achieved by 52.9 % with rosuvastatin compared with 42.6 % with simvastatin (P < 0.05). The proportions of patients attaining hsCRP targets of < 2 and < 1 mg/L were similar with the two statins (57.1 % and 74.6 % for rosuvastatin vs. 57.1 % and 80.1 % for simvastatin, P > 0.05). Conclusion: A significantly greater proportion of patients achieved LDL-C targets with rosuvastatin 10 mg compared to simvastatin 40 mg in Chinese patients with hypercholesterolaemia, but there was no significant difference in achieving hsCRP target levels with the two statins.