A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel group study was designed to evaluate the effect of 3 months' treatment with atorvastatin (10 mg/day) or pravastatin (20 mg/day) on the lipid/lipoprotein profile and LDL size in a total of 86 FCHL patients. Both statins significantly lowered plasma total and LDL cholesterol, with a significantly higher hypocholesterolemic effect observed with atorvastatin (−26.8 ± 11.1 % and −35.9 ± 11.1 % , respectively) compared to pravastatin (−17.6 ± 11.1 % and −24.5 ± 10.2 % ). The percent decrease in plasma triglycerides was highly variable, but more pronounced with atorvastatin (−19.8 ± 29.2 % ) than with pravastatin (−5.3 ± 48.6 % ). Opposite changes in LDL size were seen with the 2 treatments, with increased mean LDL particle diameter with atorvastatin, and decreased diameter with pravastatin, and significant between treatment difference in terms of percent modification vs baseline (+0.5 ± 1.6 % with atorvastatin vs −0.3 ± 1.8 % with pravastatin).
The present results support the evidence indicative of a greater hypocholesterolemic effect of atorvastatin compared to pravastatin, and in addition show a raising effect of atorvastatin on the size of LDL particles in FCHL patients.