Adverse effect to statins: action mechanism and clinical evidence

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are the world’s main cause of death, and increased LDL-cholesterol level is identified as one of the mostimportant risk factors for these diseases. Nowadays, statins are the most powerful and effective drugs in lowering LDL-cholesterollevels, but despite having potentially good effects, these drugs should be used with precaution, because of their side effects. Thispaper main objective was to do a literature review to elucidate the mechanisms and clinical evidences of adverse effects causedby statins. Biochemical and cellular mechanisms of muscular, hepatic and neural toxicity are approached. In summary, statinstherapeutical effects, as well as adverse effects, occur due to synthesis inhibition of molecules dependent of enzyme HMG-CoAreductase, such as mevalonato and isoprenoids. An overview of adverse reactions and a brief comparison between differentstatins are also presented.