Fluvastatin sodium is an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase [1].
Fluvastatin is a drug used to treat patients with hypercholesterolaemia. It lowers serum total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) as well as the serum apolipoprotein B. It also increases high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and apolipoprotein A-I levels. In addition to these, fluvastatin has antiatherogenic, antithrombotic and antioxidant effects. In U937 human monocyte cells, fluvastatin reduces the expression of adhesion molecules thus reducing the interaction between monocytes and endothelial cells. Fluvastatin dose-dependently reduces the platelet aggregation in vitro. The administration of fluvastatin at dose of 40 mg/day to patients reduces platelet aggregation by 10 to 15% after 4 to 24 weeks. In patients with hypercholesterolaemia, fluvastatin 40 mg/day for 8 weeks can reduce copper-induced diene production in LDL-C isolated from these patients. It is also reported that, fluvastatin can inhibit the production of NO and decreases inflammatory angiogenesis induced by the sponge matrix [1, 2].
References:
[1] Langtry HD, Markham A. Fluvastatin. A Review of its Use in Lipid Disorders. Drugs. 1999 Apr;57(4):583-606.
[2] Fernanda A. Araujo, Monaliza A. Rocha, Luciano S. A. Capettini, Paula P. Campos, Monica A. N. D. Ferreira, Virginia S. Lemos1and Silvia P. Andrade. 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitor (fluvastatin) decreases inflammatory angiogenesis in mice. APMIS. 2012,121:422-430.