Pitavastatin Cuts Risk of Cardiovascular Events in Patients With HIV

TUESDAY, July 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with HIV infection, those receiving pitavastatin have reduced risk of major adverse cardiovascular events over a median follow-up of 5.1 years, according to a study published online July 23 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with the IAS Conference on HIV Science, held from July 23 to 26 in Brisbane, Australia.

Steven K. Grinspoon, M.D., from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues randomly assigned 7,769 participants with HIV infection and a low-to-moderate risk of cardiovascular disease who were receiving antiretroviral therapy to receive daily pitavastatin calcium or placebo.

After a median of 5.1 years, the trial was stopped early for efficacy. The researchers found that the incidence of a major cardiovascular event was 4.81 and 7.32 per 1,000 person-years in the pitavastatin and placebo groups, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.65). Muscle-related symptoms occurred in 2.3 and 1.4 percent of the pitavastatin and placebo groups, respectively, and diabetes mellitus occurred in 5.3 and 4.0 percent, respectively.

"This observed reduction was larger than that predicted by the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists' Collaboration on the basis of the achieved reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels," the authors write. "This finding suggests effects on cardiovascular risk beyond those associated with the lowering of LDL cholesterol alone."

Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Gilead Sciences, and ViiV Healthcare, which supported the study.

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