Statins and Grapefruit

Statins are useful drugs which help in lowering cholesterol levels in our body. Different enzymes present in the body carry out the breakdown of these drugs, which in turn helps in reducing the levels of cholesterol. The recommendations about statin usage would also help.

What are Statins?
Statins are medicines used to bring down the level of plasma cholesterol. Statins inhibit the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme which leads to reduction in the level of cholesterol, and are also known to affect the cholesterol levels in the body, viz. HDL, LDL, etc. These medicines are widely used for the treatment of cholesterol-related problems.The following paragraphs present information about effects of interaction between grapefruit juice and statins.

Statins and Grapefruit Juice Interaction
Grapefruit contains a chemical known as bergamottin. This chemical interacts with cytochrome P-450 and P-glycoprotein, the enzyme systems which are known for breaking down certain chemicals and transporting them from one part of the body to the other. Functioning of these enzyme systems is altered by interaction with grapefruit. Breakdown of statins do not take place due to the interference of chemicals present in grapefruit. As a result of this process, buildup of statins in the blood take place. Rise in the level of statins is very dangerous for the health of kidneys and liver. The CYP3A4 (enzyme) activity is affected by around half times due to the effect of grapefruit.

Recommendations about Grapefruit Consumption
Grapefruit provides the body with nutrients such as vitamin C, lycopene, potassium, etc. However, the interaction of grapefruit with enzymes involved in metabolism creates problems by raising the level of drugs. Let us understand when to consume grapefruit and when to avoid it.

The interaction of grapefruit juice causes levels of statin drugs to rise in the blood stream. One might wonder, whether it is safe to eat grapefruit in the morning and consume statin drugs in the evening. Grapefruit juice can interact with statin drugs till 3 days and therefore, it is risky to consume this fruit. Even a single serving of grapefruit juice is enough to build up the level of drugs in the blood stream.

List of Statin Drugs
Here is a list of statin drugs which interact with grapefruit.

Altoprev	Advicor	Lipitor
Caduet	Simcor	Mevacor

Grapefruit juice doesn't interact with the following statin drugs.

Lescol	Crestor
Pravachol	Lescol XL

The reason that these drugs are not affected by grapefruit is that, enzymes which act in their (statin) break down are different from those which act normally. One can think of using statin drugs which get absorbed in the body in a different way. Crestor and Pravachol, the pravastatins are used in lowering the level of cholesterol without getting affected by grapefruit juice. One can resort to niacin, a vitamin which doesn't interact with statins.

One should take every possible precaution to prevent interaction of statins with grapefruit. Advice from a medical practitioner would help greatly.