Statin-induced Myopathy

Heart disease (HD) is the number one killer in the United States.(1) In 2006, the direct and indirect costs associated with cardiovascular disease in the United States were estimated at 400 billion dollars.(2) Statin therapy for cholesterol reduction is a mainstay intervention for cardiovascular disease (CVD) as reflected in atorvastatin's status as the number one prescribed medication in the United States.(3) Statin therapy, however, is also associated with side effects that signal mitochondrial distress. A commonly reported statin-induced symptom is myalgia, which is defined as muscle pain without an associated elevation of serum creatine kinase (CK). In clinical trials, the reports of myalgia vary from less than 1% to 25% of patients.(4) Myopathy is a general term defined as an abnormal condition or disease of muscle tissue. Myopathy includes myalgia, myositis (inflammation of muscle tissue associated with elevated CK) and the very serious condition rhabdomyolysis (extreme myositis). Histological findings in statin-induced myopathy demonstrate electron chain dysfunction making “mitochondrial myopathy” the more precise term.(5) Mitochondrial myopathy has been associated with statin-induced CoQ10 depletion.(5) Given the density of mitochondria in cardiomyocytes, and CoQ10's role in mitochondrial energy production, depletion has long been associated with increased risk for heart disease.(6–7) In the case below, mitochondrial-specific organic acids, serum CoQ10, vitamin D and clinical history all suggest statin-induced mitochondrial myopathy, despite normal serum CK.