Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: There is accumulating evidence on the favourable effects of some statins on bone and mineral metabolism. Although some studies have reported drop of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in subjects receiving statin therapy, comparative studies evaluating various statins in prospective randomized design is lacking. Our purpose is to compare the effects of variable doses of rosuvastatin and atorvastatin on serum 25-hydoxyvitamin D levels adjusted for seasons.

Methods: Hyperlipidemic patients who did not receive lipid lowering therapy before were included. They were randomly assigned to receive rosuvastatin 10 mg, rosuvastatin 20 mg, atorvastatin 10 mg and atorvastatin 20 mg. We planned to evaluate serum 25-hydoxyvitamin D, LDL-c, HLL-c, triglyceride levels at baseline, 12, and 24 weeks of therapy. Preliminary results are reported.

Results: Seventy-six cases were recruited to the ongoing study till now. 16 hyperlipidemic men and women, 8 of whom received rosuvastatin 10–20 mg/day, and the remaining atorvastatin 10–20 mg/day completed the first twelve weeks. The mean basal lipid and 25-hydoxyvitamin D levels were similar in both groups (155.8±23.4 mg/dl and 54.4±20.9 UG/l for atorvastatin; 172.1±46.8 mg/dl and 48.6±21.2 UG/l for rosuvastatin group, respectively) (mean±S.D.). LDL-c levels decreased significantly in both groups to a mean value of 85.5 and 100.9 mg/dl, respectively (P<0.01). No significant effects of atorvastatin and rosuvastatin were observed on 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels at the end of twelve weeks (65.8±31.7 and 47.3±31.7 UG/l, respectively; P>0.05). There was no correlation between LDL-c and 25-hydoxyvitamin D level changes in both of the groups.

Conclusion: In contrast to some previous data, rosuvastatin and atorvastatin, two potent and widely prescribed statins, did not lead to a significant change in 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. Long-term prospective studies are needed to evaluate the effects of statins on vitamin D levels.