What Is the Benefit of Providing Data to Physicians on Pharmacogenetic Testing for Simvastatin-Associated Myopathy?

The data did not affect LDL levels or overall statin prescribing but might have dissuaded physicians from prescribing simvastatin.

Poor adherence to statin medications is common, and statin-associated muscle symptoms are often cited as the reason. Decreased or poor function of the organic anion transporter gene SLCO1B1 has been associated with simvastatin-associated myopathy. Therefore, these investigators sought to determine whether delivering SLCO1B1 pharmacogenetic results to physicians would affect statin prescribing (NCT02871934).

SLCO1B1 genotyping was performed on 408 statin-naive participants with elevated risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease from eight primary care practices in Boston's Veterans Affairs healthcare system (mean age, 64; 6% women). The participants were then randomized to have their results reported to primary care physicians either at…

Reviewing Author

Karol E. Watson, MD, PhD, FACC

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBoehringer Ingelheim; Amgen; Novartis; Lilly; Amarin

Speaker’s BureauBoehringer Ingelheim

Grant/Research SupportNIH

Editorial BoardsCirculation (Associate Editor)