A Phase II multicenter trial has found that Altocor™, an extended release formulation of lovastatin, lower cholesterol and C-reactive protein levels in patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers.

"These results are important in view of recent epidemiologic publications in the medical literature, giving evidence that patients taking statins have a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Lawrence T. Friedhoff, executive vice president of Andrx Laboratories.

Friedhoff told the 31st Annual Meeting of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology that patients with mild to moderately severe Alzheimer's were given 20mg, 40mg, and 80mg doses of Altocorto for a period of 28 days.

Researchers said that in patients treated with these doses, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was reduced by 30 to 44 percent, total cholesterol was reduced by 18 to 31 percent, and triglycerides by 17 to 19 percent while changes in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were small.

"This is one of the few prospective clinical trials that was specifically designed to evaluate the effects of a statin drug in patients with diagnosed Alzheimer's disease," said Friedhoff.

Andrx previously published data showing that Altocor significantly reduces blood concentrations of beta amyloid in patients with high cholesterol. Beta amyloid is believed to play a central role in the evolution of the brain damage seen in Alzheimer's.

Other sources: Andrx