Quantitative and qualitative effects of rosuvastatin on LDL-cholesterol: what is the clinical significance ?

Summary Background:  Statins have emerged as the global leader in pharmacologic therapy for dyslipidaemia, and rosuvastatin has demonstrated clinical efficacy as well as safety in several clinical trials and postmarketing analyses. Aim:  The present article reviewed the effects of rosuvastatin on the quantity and the quality of low-density lipoproteins (LDL). Methods:  We searched for and reviewed all the available evidence in a systematic way. A literature search (by Medline and Scopus) was performed using the following headings: ‘LDL-cholesterol’, ‘LDL size’, ‘LDL subclasses’, ‘small dense LDL’, ‘apolipoprotein B, apo B’ and ‘rosuvastatin’ up to 11 November 2008. The authors also manually…