Pravastatin

Placebo-controlled studies

In a placebo-controlled study of 1142 patients with hypercholesterolemia who took pravastatin for 8–16 weeks, the numbers of “adverse drug experiences” were similar in the treated and untreated individuals [ ]. Rash was the only adverse clinical event that was different (4.0% versus 1.1%). However, in the same patients withdrawal of therapy during follow-up was thought to be necessary in 3.2% of those given pravastatin alone. Myopathy was observed in one instance only, and increases in creatine kinase activity in those taking pravastatin did not differ significantly from controls. There were marked persistent increases in aminotransferase activities in 1.1%, with no cases of symptomatic hepatitis. Pravastatin is believed to have a particularly low potential for nervous system-related adverse effects, as it has not been shown to enter the cerebrospinal fluid, and clinical experience suggests that muscle toxicity occurs less often with pravastatin than with lovastatin [ ].

Respiratory

• A 41-year-old man, who had been taking pravastatin for 2 years, developed a hypersensitivity pneumonitis with eosinophilia; the symptoms gradually resolved after withdrawal of pravastatin [ ].