Influence of age on the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of the novel HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor cerivastatin in healthy male volunteers

The safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of cerivastatin, a novel, synthetic, potent, and highly selective HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor; were studied in 48 young and elderly male volunteers in a randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled study. Eight men ranging from 18 to 38 years of age (young) and 15 men ranging from 65 to 78 years of age (elderly) received 0.1-mg cerivastatin tablets daily for 7 days. The remaining subjects (8 young and 17 elderly) received matching placebo tablets. Cerivastatin was well tolerated in elderly and young subjects. Adverse events were mild and occurred less frequently in the participants receiving cerivastatin than in those receiving placebo. In those participants given cerivastatin, the incidence of adverse events was similar for both age groups (4 of 8 young subjects and 8 of 15 elderly subjects). Transient and mild elevations in creatine kinase and transaminase levels were evenly distributed across the cerivastatin and placebo groups. Pharmacokinetic parameters, including area under the concentration curve (AUC), peak plasma concentration (C-max), time to C-max (t(max)), and elimination half-life (t(1/2)), were similar between the two age groups. The mean elimination t(1/2) for both groups was approximately 4 hours. These results indicate that cerivastatin is well tolerated in elderly male volunteers at a dosage of 0.1 mg/day. Further, the pharmacokinetics of cerivastatin are not altered as a consequence of age. Dose adjustment is therefore not required in elderly men. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 1998;38:715-719 (C) 1998 The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.