Pitavastatin in the Management of Hypercholesterolemia HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA

Pitavastatin((+)-monocalciumbis(3R,5S,6E)-7[2-cyclopropyl-4-(4-fluorophenyl)-3-quinolyl3,5-dihydroxy-6-heptenoate]) (C50H46CaF2N2O8), is an entirely synthetic statin with a molecular weight of 880.98, that was initially developed by Nissan Chemical Industries Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, and later by Kowa Co. Ltd., Tokyo, (Figure 1).15 Pitavastatin exerts its potent pharmacological actions by strongly binding to the active sites on HMG-CoA reductase. Pitavastatin is thought to form 10 hydrogen bonds with hydrophilic amino groups in the active pocket of the enzyme.16