A crossover study of rosuvastatin and pitavastatin in patients with type 2 diabetes

Introduction The effects of a low dose of rosuvastatin (ROS) and pitavastatin (PIT) on lipid profiles and inflammation markers were assessed in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods A total of 90 Japanese type 2 diabetes patients with hyperlipidemia (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C] ≥140 mg/dL) were enrolled in this study. They were randomly assigned to four groups with open-label treatment with ROS (2.5 mg daily) or PIT (2 mg daily); two groups were sequentially treated with both drugs, with crossover of medication after 12 weeks, and the other two groups underwent treatment with either ROS or PIT for 24 weeks. The primary endpoints were the percentage changes in LDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride, and the LDL-C/HDL-C ratio. Results Both ROS and PIT lowered LDL-C and triglyceride, and increased HDL-C. In particular, significantly greater reduction in LDL-C was seen with ROS (−44.1%) than with PIT (−36.9%, P