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Background:Little is known about the differences between standard-dose statins effects on glucose level and lipids in Japanese patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).Methods and Results:The 1,049 patients were randomly assigned to either the rosuvastatin group or atorvastatin group. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in the effect on non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C) and HbA1c at 12 months. However, physicians tended to switch to more intensive therapy for DM in the atorvastatin group.Conclusions:Rosuvastatin 5 mg and atorvastatin 10 mg have a similar lowering effect on non-HDL-C, but might be different in terms of adverse effect on glucose levels. (Circ J 2014; 78: 2512–2515)

Background: Recently, it was reported from the Justification for Atherosclerosis Regression Treatment (JART) Study that intensive therapy with rosuvastatin significantly slowed progression of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) compared with conventional therapy with pravastatin at 12 months. To assess the long-term efficacy of intensive therapy, the present extension study was conducted. Methods and Results: Subjects in the intensive therapy group of the JART Study were asked to participate in the extension study and to continue rosuvastatin treatment. A total of 113 subjects were enrolled into the extension study and were included in the analysis. At 24 months, the mean daily dose of rosuvastatin (±SD) was 7.9±2.9mg. Mean change in mean IMT was –0.005mm (range, –0.024 to 0.015mm) at 24 months (P=0.633, compared with baseline). Rosuvastatin lowered low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mean±SD) by 46.4±13.8% and elevated high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (mean±SD) by 8.9±24.0% at 24 months compared with baseline. Gray scale median was measured in 25 subjects. It increased by 16.93±33.12 (mean±SD) % at 12 months and by 22.50±52.83% at 24 months from baseline (P=0.017, P=0.044, respectively). Conclusions: Two-year treatment with rosuvastatin inhibited progression of carotid IMT. Rosuvastatin also improved the plaque composition, and this qualitative change occurred relatively early after starting therapy. (Circ J 2013; 77: 1526–1533)

Background: A recent trial in Western countries has shown that rosuvastatin slows progression of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) in patients with modest carotid IMT thickening and elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). We conducted a prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded-endpoint trial to determine whether rosuvastatin is more effective than pravastatin in slowing progression of carotid IMT in Japanese patients. Methods and Results: Adult patients with hypercholesterolemia who had a maximum IMT ≥1.1mm were randomly assigned to receive rosuvastatin or pravastatin. The primary endpoint was the percent change in the mean-IMT, which was measured by a single observer who was blinded to the treatment assignments. The trial was stopped on April 2011 according to the recommendation by the data and safety monitoring committee. A total of 348 patients (173 rosuvastatin; 175 pravastatin) were enrolled and 314 (159 rosuvastatin; 155 pravastatin) were included in the primary analysis. Mean (SD) percentage changes in the mean-IMT at 12 months were 1.91% (10.9) in the rosuvastatin group and 5.8% (12.0) in the pravastatin group, with a difference of 3.89% (11.5) between the groups (P=0.004). At 12 months, 85 patients (59.4%) in the rosuvastatin group achieved a LDL-C/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio ≤1.5 compared with 24 patients (16.4%) in the pravastatin group (P