Pleiotropy (drugs) Pleiotropy (drugs) In pharmacology, pleiotropy includes all of a drug's actions other than those for which the agent was specifically developed. It may include adverse effects which are detrimental ones, but is often used to denote additional beneficial effects. For example, statins are HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors that primarily act by decreasing cholesterol synthesis, but which are believed to have other beneficial effects, including acting as antioxidants and stabilizing atherosclerotic plaques. Steroid drugs, such as prednisone and prednisolone, have pleiotropic effects, including systemic ones, for the same reason that endogenous steroid hormones do too: cells throughout the body have receptors that
Discovery and development of statins 2 statins. One of the main differences between the type 1 and type 2 statins is the replacement of the butyryl group of type 1 statins by the fluorophenyl group of type 2 statins. This group is responsible for additional polar interactions that causes tighter binding to the HMGR enzyme. Statins that belong to this group are: Lovastatin is derived from a fungus source and simvastatin and pravastatin are chemical modifications of lovastatin and as a result do not differ much in structure from lovastatin. All three are partially reduced napthylene ring structures. Simvastatin and lovastatin are inactive lactones which