The Relationship Between Suspected Adverse Drug Reactions Of HMG-Coa Reductase Inhibitors And Polypharmacology Using A National Registry Approach

Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the suspected adverse drug reaction (ADR) data of five licensed statins in the UK: atorvastatin, fluvastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin and simvastatin. A secondary aim was to determine if there was a link between the polypharmacological properties of the statins and their associated muscle-related side effects.

Methods: The chemical database of bioactive molecules with drug-like properties, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (ChEMBL) was used to obtain data on the pharmacological interactions of statins with human proteins. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Yellow Card Scheme was used to obtain reports of suspected ADRs from 2018 to 2022. The OpenPrescribing database was used to obtain the prescribing rates for statistical interpretation.

Results: The study found no significant difference between the statins in causing ADRs across all organ classes (X2, P > .05). Fluvastatin was found to have a higher incidence of ADRs/100,000 Rx across multiple organ classes.

Conclusion: No significant difference was found between the suspected ADR incidence of the statins across all organ classes. No evidence of higher intensity statins causing more muscle symptoms than moderate intensity statins was found.