Effect of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors on red blood cell membrane lipids and haemorheological parameters, in patients affected by familial hypercholesterolemia.

Eighteen patients with familial hypercholesterolemia treated with lovastatin (40 mg/day) for three months were studied to find out whether the drug induces modifications in the lipid composition of the erythrocyte membrane and whether these induce changes in the rheological behaviour of the red blood cell. Our results show that the changes observed in plasma lipids correlate with a significant decrease in the cholesterol/phospholipid ratio of the red blood cell membrane. These changes in the lipid composition of the cell are statistically related to a decrease in the erythrocyte aggregability and an improvement in blood filterability probably due to an increase in the red blood cell deformability.