Alert for Asian users of Crestor
RESEARCHERS in Singapore have raised the alarm over a cholesterol-lowering drug which a landmark study indicates has potentially more harmful side-effects in Asians than in Caucasians.
The study found that the concentration of the popular drug Crestor (rosuvastatin) that lingered in Chinese people was twice that in Caucasians, despite both taking the same dosage of the medicine.
Prof Edmund Lee of the National University of Singapore’s pharmacology department, who led the study, said: “We don’t fully understand why this is so, but it does raise concerns about the appropriate dose for the Chinese, and Asians in general.”
The study was funded by AstraZeneca, one of Europe’s largest drug makers, which produces Crestor.
The drug is a statin, a class of drugs which work powerfully to lower cholesterol but which can affect kidney and muscle function in some patients.
The project looked at 140 people using the drug. The levels of rosuvastatin in Malays were found to be close to those of Chinese, while those of Indians were mid-way between those of Chinese and Caucasians.
One of the first studies to focus on different races, the effort has made drug watchdogs around the world sit up.
The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised doctors to reduce the dosage of rosuvastatin in Asians late last year, and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) in Singapore was also alerted, said Prof Lee.
The HSA moved to recommend a dosage of 10mg a day for Asian patients. It also required that Crestor packages include advice to Asian patients on the side-effects they could face if they took the highest recommended daily dosage of 40mg. –The Straits Times/ANN
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