Statin Therapy The intensity of statin therapy is divided into 3 cat- egories: high-intensity, moderate-intensity, and low- High-intensity statin therapy typically lowers LDL-C levels by 50%, moderate-intensity statin therapy by 30% to 49%, and low-intensity statin therapy by <30% (Table 3). Of course, the magnitude of LDL-C lowering will vary in clinical practice.S3.2.1-2 Certain Asian populations may have a greater re- sponse to certain statins.S3.2.1-18 Pharmacokinetic pro- files among statins are heterogeneous (Table S4 in the Web Supplement). Statin safety has been extensively CLINICAL STATEMENTS AND GUIDELINES Statin-associated side effects are dis- cussed in Section 5. Common medications that may potentially interact with statins are listed in Table S5 in the Web Supplement. More information on statin drug drug interactions can be obtained from the ACC 3.2.2. Nonstatin Therapies Ezetimibe is the most commonly used nonstatin agent. It lowers LDL-C levels by 13% to 20% and has a low in- cidence of side effects.S3.2.2-1,S3.2.2-2 Bile acid sequestrants reduce LDL-C levels by 15% to 30% depending on the dose. Bile acid sequestrants are not absorbed and do not cause systemic side effects, but they are associated with gastrointestinal complaints (eg, constipation) and can cause severe hypertriglyceridemia when fasting tri- glycerides are 300 mg/dL ( 3.4 mmol/L). PCSK9 inhibi- tors are powerful LDL-lowering drugs. They generally are well tolerated, but long-term safety remains to be Two categories of triglyceride-lower- ing drugs, niacin and fibrates, may also mildly lower LDL-C levels in patients with normal triglycerides. They may be useful in some patients with severe hypertri- glyceridemia, but in the present document they are not listed as LDL-lowering drugs. See Table S4 in the Web Supplement. 3.2.3. 