A Preliminary Report on the Sensitivity of Plasma Lipoproteins to Low-dose Simvastatin in Nine Turkish Men

High plasma levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (>160 mg/dL) and low levels of high density lipoprotein eholesterol (HDL-C) (<35 mg/dL) increase the risk of premature coronary heart disease. The Turkish population appears to be unique in having unusually low levels of HDL-C that may be genetic in origin. In addition, many of the affluent Turkish men and women living in urban areas have elevated cholesterol and LDL-C levels and thus have very detrimental total cholesterol/HDL-C ratios <5. The present pilot study was undertaken to determine if low-dose simvastatin could improve this ratio. Nine Turkish men with HDL-C =35 mg/dL and total cholesterol/HDL-C <5.5 were treated with simvastatin, 10 mg/day, for 8 weeks. The LDL-C levels were dramatically reduced by 42%, a response typically seen only with higher drug doses. In addition, and surprisingly, HDL-C levels increased by 23%, an atypical result for statin therapy at any dose. These highly desirable effects lowered the mean total cholesterol/HDL-C ratio by 43%, from 7.5 at baseline to 4.3 after 8 weeks of drug therapy. These results suggest that low-dose simvastatin is particularly effective in Turks.