No interactions were found between atorvastatin and vitamin D3. Statin therapy in hyperlipidemia is essential for cholesterol control and reduction of the risk of coronary heart disease. However, 10% of patients have statin-induced muscle symptoms5, which constitute one of the most common causes of lack of treatment with statins and interruption of their administration. SAMS is associated with a low level of vitamin D3 and some reports show that supplementation with vitamin D3 leads to the regression of myopathic symptoms in more than 90% of patients. 6,7,8 Studies also show that patients who have discontinued statin therapy due to the development of myopathy were able to resume their medication without symptoms when taken together with vitamin D3 supplements,9,10 Therefore, vitamin D3 supplementation can help control statin therapy and prevent the occurrence of side effects and reduce myopathic side effects.
The levels of vitamin D (1,25-dihydroxy (OH) and 25 OH metabolites), atorvastatin (mother, OH acid metabolites, lactone, and lactone metabolites), and cholesterol (total low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol) were determined at 0.5, 3, and 10 h after administration. This provided researchers with a unique opportunity to test whether vitamin D reduces muscle symptoms in participants who started treatment with statins during the follow-up period of the larger VITAL trial. Over 4.8 years of follow-up, 31% of participants given vitamin D had statin-related muscle pain and 31% of those who received a placebo. Observational studies have found a link between low levels of vitamin D in the blood and an increased risk of cardiovascular complications, such as peripheral artery disease and heart attacks.
However, despite its significant human health benefits, a large proportion of the world's population suffers from vitamin D3 deficiency. There are many opportunities to include vitamin D3 in regular patient care, especially when medications that interfere with the metabolism of vitamin D3 are used for a long time. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of vitamin D supplementation on atorvastatin and cholesterol levels in patients. This is especially important in people who cannot reach the recommended intake of vitamin D3 or those who are at high risk of bone fractures and osteoporosis (even when they are not being treated with corticosteroids), such as older people or postmenopausal women.
Researchers from several countries have conducted experiments with statins to evaluate their effect on vitamin D in HIV-negative people. The 2,083 patients were part of the largest cohort of participants in the vitamin D and omega-3 trial (VITAL), in which nearly 26,000 participants were randomly assigned to double-blind vitamin D supplementation to determine if they could prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer. Low vitamin D levels are linked to many medical problems, but it turns out that giving people vitamin D usually doesn't fix those problems. SAMS is related to a low level of vitamin D3 and some reports show that vitamin D3 supplementation causes the regression of myopathic symptoms in more than 90% of patients.
The conclusion of the study is that vitamin D supplementation reduces the concentrations of atorvastatin and active metabolites, but has synergistic effects on cholesterol concentrations. About 30 to 35 million Americans are prescribed statins, and about half of the population aged 60 and older takes a vitamin D supplement. Although non-randomized studies have shown that vitamin D is an effective treatment for statin-associated muscle symptoms, the new study, which is the first randomized clinical trial to analyze the effect of vitamin D on statin-associated muscle symptoms, was large enough to rule out any benefit important.
