Why the study?
Does lovastatin therapy affect blood rheology and platelet activity in hypercholesterolemic patients?
Does lovastatin therapy affect blood rheology and platelet activity in hypercholesterolemic patients?
Lovastatin therapy in hypercholesterolemia improves whole blood filtration time but paradoxically increases fibrinogen and platelet aggregation, warranting further investigation into its net hemorrheologic effects on coronary risk.
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Improves filtration time but raises fibrinogen and platelet activity; leaves open net coronary risk effects in hypercholesterolemia.
The effect of lovastatin therapy on blood rheology was investigated in 26 hypercholesterolemic patients. Treatment with lovastatin was associated with a significant improvement in whole blood filtration time and a tendency toward normalization in red blood cell morphology. A significant increase was observed in fibrinogen level, in ADP-induced platelet aggregation, in the percentage of "big" platelets, and in platelet count. The viscosity of whole blood and plasma and the percentage of aggregated platelets did not change significantly. The cause for these hemorrheologic changes and their role in influencing the coronary risk of lovastatin-treated hypercholesterolemic patients should be further investigated.
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Beigel et al. (1991) studied this question.
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