Acta Pharmacologica Sinica (2010) 31: 382–386; doi: 10.1038/aps.2009.203; published online 8 February 2010

Guo-ping YANG¹, Hong YUAN¹, Bin TANG², Wei ZHANG³, Lian-sheng WANG³, Zhi-jun HUANG¹, Dong-sheng OU-YANG³, Gui-xiang ZHANG¹, Hong-hao ZHOU^{3, *}

¹Centre of Clinical Pharmacology, the Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410078, China; ²Department of Cardiovascular Medicine 1, Jiangxi Provincial People’s Hospital, Nanchang 330006, China; ³Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Central South University, Changsha 410078, China

Aim: To investigate the SLCO1B1 388A>G and 521T>CC polymorphisms in hyperlipidemia patients and evaluate the effect of the two polymorphisms on the lipid-lowering efficacy of pitavastatin.

Methods: The functional polymorphisms of SLCO1B1 (388A>G and 521T>C) were genotyped in 140 Chinese patients with essential hyperlipidemia using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and one-step tetra-primers ARMS-PCR.  Eighty-five patients were enrolled in the clinical trial and given 2 mg of pitavastatin daily for 8 weeks.  Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) serum levels were measured at baseline, after 4 weeks and after 8 weeks of treatment. 

Results: The allele frequencies of SLCO1B1 388A>G and 521T>C in essential hyperlipidemia patients were 71.1% and 11.1%, respectively.  The 4- and 8-week treatment with pitavastatin significantly reduced TC, TG, and LDL levels, but there was no statistical difference among patients with wild type, SLCO1B1 388A>G or SLCO1B1 521T>C in the lipid-lowering efficacy of pitavastatin.

Conclusion: The present study found that the allele frequencies of SLCO1B1 388A>G and 521T>C in Chinese patients with essential hyperlipidemia are comparable to those in healthy Chinese population.  SLCO1B1 388A>G and 521T>C do not affect the lipid-lowering efficacy of pitavastatin.

Keywords: essential hyperlipidemia; polymorphism; SLCO1B1; pitavastatin