Question

Explain how anti hypercholesterolemia drug work to reduce cholesterol in the body and give an example of this drug

Answer 1

Hypercholesterolemia is condition when the cholesterol level in body (blood) is increased ( mainly LDL cholesterol) . Drugs which are used to reduce the level of cholesterol is known as Anti hypercholesterolemia drugs. Major class of such drugs are STATINS - Example: ATORVASTATIN, ROSUVASTATIN , SIMVASTATIN etc. These drugs will inhibit the HmgCoA reductase enzyme which is the first enzyme in cholesterol synthesis process, thus blocking the cholesterol formation. These drugs are also called as HmgCoA reductase inhibitors due to its inhibitary action on the enzyme. Statins competitively blocks the active site of this enzyme which is involved in the rate limiting step of cholesterol synthesis.