[Effects of lovastatin (mevacor) on platelet function in hypercholesterolemia in patients with ischemic heart disease].

The impact of a 4-week course of lovastatin (mevacor) therapy on platelet function was examined in 26 patients with coronary heart disease concurrent with hypercholesterolemia (the baseline plasma cholesterol level was 250 mg% or more). The agent was given in a daily dose of 20-40 mg. The agent in this dose was found to have no action on the thromboxane-prostacyclin balance in plasma, on the degree of ADP-induced aggregation and lipid peroxidation in platelets, phospholipid composition and levels of ester-bound cholesterol in platelet membranes. Free cholesterol tended to increase at the end of the 4th week of treatment. Despite the effective reduction of plasma levels of total and LDL cholesterols whose action on platelets is well known, there was no estimated decrease in the activity of platelets during lovastatin therapy.