General biochemical derangement related to the use of Statins in the treatment of Familial Hypercholesterolemia.

Abstract

Objectives: This study was carried out to evaluate the patients of familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) on statin therapy for general biochemical abnormalities. Study Design: Case-Control observational study. Setting: Department of Chemical Pathology (Army Medical College/Military Hospital Rawalpindi) in collaboration with center for research in experimental and applied medicine (CREAM lab). Periods: From Jan 2017 to Jan 2018. Material & Methods: A total of one hundred participants were recruited in this study. These hundred cases were further divided into two groups. First group comprised of fifty disease free healthy cases, while the second group included the patients of familial hypercholesterolemia diagnosed on the basis of Simon Broom criteria. This second group was categorized into further two groups on the basis of patients taking statin therapy or not. Fasting blood sample was taken from these cases complete blood count, liver function tests, fasting plasma glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, lipid profile and renal function tests were performed on these blood samples and the results were compared to find out any biochemical variance in control and cases. Results of this study were analyzed on SPSS v.23. Results: The analysis of lipid profile including total cholesterol (T.Ch), triglycerides (TRG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high density cholesterol (HDL-C) showed a highly significant difference in cases and controls. Alanine aminotransferease (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bilirubin also showed a significant variation. While diabetic profile, urea, creatinine, hemoglobin and body mass index didn’t show any significant variation among cases and controls. Conclusion: It is well-known that statins prove to be more superior to other classes of anti-hyperlipidemic, but at same time use of statins are also associated with other biochemical derangements. Diabetes mellitus is one of them. Therefore, a close monitoring protocol is required during statin therapy.