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RODA PLAKOGIANNIS, B.S., PHARM.D., is Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University (LIU), Brooklyn, NY, and Clinical Coordinator of Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Services, Department of Pharmacy, Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, NY. HENRY COHEN, M.S., PHARM.D., FCCM, BCPP, CGP, is Associate Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, LIU, and Director of Pharmacotherapy Research Education and Residency Programs, Department of Pharmacy, Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, Brooklyn. DAVID TAFT, PH.D., is Associate Professor, Division of Pharmaceutical Science, Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, LIU.

Address correspondence to Dr. Plakogiannis at the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Long Island University, 75 DeKalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11201-5497 (roda.plakogiannis{at}liu.edu).

Purpose. The effects of morning versus evening administration of atorvastatin in hyperlipidemic patients were studied. Methods. Patients whose care was managed by a teaching hospital run by the Department of Veterans Affairs who were prescribed atorvastatin calcium 40 mg p.o. daily by their primary care physician were interviewed by a clinical pharmacist in the ambulatory care clinic for study enrollment. Patients were excluded if they had diseases or conditions or took medication known to affect serum lipoprotein levels, as were patients who consumed more than three alcoholic drinks per day and those who could not verify the time of atorvastatin administration. Blood samples were collected after a 12-hour fasting period and serum lipoprotein levels were measured at baseline and after four weeks. Results. Of the 204 hyperlipidemic patients receiving atorvastatin, 64 met the inclusion criteria and were enrolled in the study, 32 of whom took the drug in the morning (before noon) and an equal number who took the drug at night (after 6 p.m. but before midnight). All patients were male outpatients with a mean ± S.D. age of 57.8 ± 7.8 years and 58.5 ± 7.8 years for the morning and evening administration groups, respectively. No statistically significant differences in lipid values measured were found between the morning and evening administration group after four weeks. Conclusion. Changes in the levels of total cholesterol, low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol were similar among hyperlipidemic patients receiving atorvastatin calcium 40 mg, regardless of the time of day the drug was administered. Index terms: Antilipemic agents; Atorvastatin calcium; Circadian rhythm; Dosage schedules; Half-life; Hyperlipidemia; Pharmacokinetics

 

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Plakogiannis and H. Cohen Optimal Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Lowering-- Morning Versus Evening Statin Administration Ann. Pharmacother., January 1, 2007; 41(1): 106 - 110. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]