Therapeutic effect of policosanol and pravastatin on hyperlipidemia:A comparative study

Objective To evaluate the effect of policosanol on hyperlipidemia. Methods Ninety-one patients were divided into policosanol group（n=42） and atorvastatin group（n=49）.Patients in policosanol group were treated with policosanol（10mg/d） and those in atorvastatin group were treated with atorvastatin（10mg/d）.Therapeutic effect and adverse reactions of the two drugs were observed. Results The levels of total cholesterol（TC） and low density lipid-C（LDL-C） were lower while the level of high density lipid-C（HDL-C） was higher 16 weeks after treatment than before treatment in two groups（P＜0.05）.No significant difference was observed in TC and LDL-C between the two groups（P＞0.05）.The effect of atorvastatin was better than that of policosanol on triglyceride（TG）.The incidence of adverse reactions was lower in policosanol group than in atorvastatin group（4.7% vs 17.5%）.Since the adverse reactions were mild in the two group,it was not necessary to withdraw the drugs. Conclusion The lipid-reducing effect of policosanol and policosanol（10mg/d） is similar.Both policosanol and policosanol can significantly decrease TC,LDL-C,and increase HDL-C.The safety of policosanol is better than that of atorvastatin.The adverse reactions of policosanol are mild and can be well tolerated.