Atorvastatin and simvastatin reduce elevated cholesterol in non-insulin dependent diabetes

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of the two HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors atorvastatin and simvastatin for the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia in patients with noninsulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM). NIDDM patients with LDL-cholesterol > 4.1 mmol/l were randomly assigned to open-label treatment for four weeks with atorvastatin (n = 13) or simvastatin (n = 12) at a dose of 10 mg daily. Lipid levels were measured after a baseline dietary period and every two weeks during the treatment period. With atorvastatin (n = 13) total cholesterol was reduced by 30 ± 3% from 7.1 ± 0.3 to 4.9 ± 0.2 mmol/l, LDL-cholesterol by 39 ± 4% from 4.8 ± 0.2 to 2.8 ± 0.2 mmol/l and triglycerides by 27 ± 6% from 2.2 ± 0.3 to 1.6 ± 0.2 mmol/l. Comparative data for simvastatin (n = 12) showed 24 ± 1% reduction of total cholesterol from 7.6 ± 0.3 to 5.8 ± 0.1 mmol/l, 30 ± 2% fall of LDL-cholesterol from 5.3 ± 0.2 to 3.7 ± 0.1 mmol/l and 15 ± 4% fall of triglycerides fom 2.3 ± 0.4 to 1.8 ± 0.2 mmol/l. Glycaemic control was not altered by either treatment. These results show that atorvastatin is at least as effective as simvastatin for reducing elevated LDL-cholesterol levels in patients with NIDDM.