Abstract

JOAN MARCELO, Jover Rojas. LAS ESTATINAS Y SU USO EN PERSONAS CON DISLIPIDEMIA. SCIENTIFICA, June 2008, vol.6, no.1, p.42-46. ISSN 1813-0054.

In the normal metabolism of lipids, the body can regulate the synthesis, transport and storage of cholesterol with the help of many enzymes and lipoproteic transporters. Statins are drugs that are used in people who have lipid anormalities or dyslipidaemias, those act inhibiting the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme (hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA reductase), a key enzyme for the synthesis of cholesterol. This drug acts by competitive inhibition, blocking the passage of 3-hydroxy-3-methilglutaryl-CoA to Mevalonic acid, normal route for the synthesis of cholesterol. In the lipid disorders can be involved any component of normal transport, storage or synthesis of lipids, any of those disruption could lead to an anormal level of lipids in the blood or in different body tissues. The relevance of a dyslipidemia is the accumulation of cholesterol in blood vessels, especially those of small diameter, such as the coronary arteries, thus leading to an acute myocardial infarction or cardiovascular events that compromise the health of the people and probably they could die. The low density lipoprotein (LDL) carries the cholesterol, which is hydrophobic, through the blood into the peripheral tissues, which is responsible for the accumulation of cholesterol in some tissues. There are some diseases such as familial hypercholesterolemia characterized for an increase in LDL, for those disease there are drugs such as the Statins that helps in the recovery of people with dyslipidemia.

Keywords: Statins, HMG-CoA reductase (hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA reductase), cholesterol, LDL, familial hypercholesterolemia, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease.