Rosuvastatin
- Class: Statin
- Used for: high cholesterol
- Say it: roh-SOO-vuh-stat-in
- Forms: tablet
Every statin ends in -statin and blocks HMG-CoA reductase. Short-acting ones like simvastatin must be taken at night, when the liver makes most of its cholesterol. Rosuvastatin's half-life is about 19 hours, so any time of day covers the overnight peak.
The stem is the whole message: -statin means HMG-CoA reductase is blocked, so the liver makes less cholesterol and pulls LDL out of the blood to make up the difference. Learn the suffix once and every member here is the same mechanism at a different strength. All drug suffixes ›
Side effects
Common: muscle aches, headache, nausea
Serious: rhabdomyolysis
Typical dose
5–40 mg once daily
Start at 5 mg in people of East Asian ancestry, who reach roughly double the blood level on the same dose. The 40 mg dose is only used after 20 mg has been tried.
Check yourself
Why can rosuvastatin be taken at any time of day, when simvastatin must be taken at night?
- Its half-life is long enough to cover the overnight peak in cholesterol synthesis
- It is not metabolised by the liver at all
- It blocks cholesterol absorption in the gut rather than its synthesis
- It is a prodrug that is only activated during sleep
Show answer
A. Its half-life is long enough to cover the overnight peak in cholesterol synthesis
Cholesterol synthesis peaks overnight, so a statin cleared within a few hours has to be present for it. Rosuvastatin lasts about 19 hours and covers that peak whenever it is swallowed. Option three is ezetimibe's mechanism, not a statin's.
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