Comparative Analysis of Alternate Day and Daily Regimen of Atorvastatin in Dyslipidaemic South Indian Patients

Shanmugasundaram Rajamani¹, Maharani Balagurumoorthy²

¹Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Vinayaka Mission’s Kirupananda Variyar (VMKV) Medical College and Hospitals, Salem, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.

²Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, Indira Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute (IGMC and RI), Puducherry, INDIA.

Background: Atorvastatin is the most commonly used drug for the treatment of dyslipidemia. Long term administration of statins helps in the reduction of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with dyslipidemia. Several studies have shown that alternate day dosing of statins is an efficacious and safe alternative to daily dosing. Objectives: To compare the efficacy and tolerability of daily and alternate day regimens of atorvastatin in the treatment of naïve dyslipidemic South Indian patients. Materials and Methods: This is an open-labeled, prospective, parallel, comparative interventional study. Ninety patients satisfying the inclusion criteria were randomized into group 1 (n=45) and group 2 (n=45) and received atorvastatin 10 mg daily and on alternate days respectively for 3 months. Pretreatment and post-treatment anthropometric measurements, biochemical and lipid parameters were recorded. Patients were followed at fortnightly intervals for 3 months to check patient compliance and adherence to treatment. Data were analyzed using suitable statistical methods. Results: There was a statistically significant reduction in total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL, and VLDL, and an increase in HDL cholesterol in both groups. Post-treatment between-group comparison shows a significantly higher reduction in LDL in group 1 than in group 2 patients. All other lipid parameters were significantly similar between the groups at the 12-week follow-up. Daily and alternate day treatments were well tolerated by the patients in both groups, and there were no untoward incidents during the study period. Conclusion: Alternate day administration of atorvastatin causes a beneficial alteration in lipid parameters, which helps in reducing cost and adverse effects.

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