Is the Efficacy of HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors Dependent on Baseline Plasma Cholesterol-Level?

Abstract Background. In pharmacology the clinical efficacy of a compound is generally strongly dependent on baseline characteristics of the test subjects. In recent HMG -CoA reductase inhibitor (statin) studies this was not so. However, these studies used subgroup analysis, and subgroup analysis may not be sensitive to demonstrate a linear relationship between baseline LDL-cholesterol levels and responsiveness to statin treatment. Methods. We used regression analysis of previously published statin data to assess relationship between baseline LDL-cholesterol and responsiveness to statin treatment. Also we looked into the data of recent statin studies for mechanisms that tend to make comparisons more similar. Results. Regression unlike subgroup analysis is able to demonstrate a highly significant (p