Prosjektet ble startet i 2017 og pågår fremdeles. Prosjektet ledes av Elise Sverre (klinisk del) og Nils Tore Vethe (farmakologisk del). Vi utvikler nye metoder for å måle nivåer av kolesterolsenkende medisiner (statiner) og nedbrytningsprodukter (metabolitter og andre proteiner) i blod og muskel. Metodene benytter vi til å studere legemiddelomsetning og effekter, medikamentetterlevelse og bivirkninger. Den overordnede målsettingen er å utvikle persontilpasset behandling og oppfølging med kolesterolmedisiner slik at pasientene får best mulig effekt, lite bivirkninger og redusert risiko for hjerte-kar sykdom. Prosjektet har 5 PhD stipendiater og to post-doktor forskere.

Prosjektet består av følgende fem delprosjekter/studier:


  1. Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Increases Significantly During Brief Discontinuation of Atorvastatin and Correlates With Metabolite Half-LivesPharmacology Research & Perspectives 2025
  2. Statin adherence in coronary outpatients: The relationship between a novel blood test and pharmacy registry dataAtherosclerosis 2025
  3. Treatment with PCSK9 monoclonal antibodies is associated with discontinuation of oral lipid lowering therapy. European Heart Journal – Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes, 2024
  4. The effect of atorvastatin on mevalonate levels in blood plasma in patients with coronary heart disease and muscle side effectsEuropean Journal of Preventive Cardiology 2024
  5. Mevalonate in blood and muscle: Response to atorvastatin treatment and the relationship to statin intolerance in patients with coronary heart disease. Clinical and Translational Science 2024
  6. High discontinuation rate of statins among PCSK9i users: a nationwide study from 2015-2023. European Heart Journal, Supplement. 2024
  7. Validation of a novel direct method to determine reduced adherence to atorvastatin therapy, European Heart Journal Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy 2024
  8. The atorvastatin metabolite pattern in muscle tissue and blood plasma is associated with statin muscle side effects in patients with coronary heart disease; An exploratory case-control study, Atherosclerosis Plus 2024
  9. Treatment patterns and adherence to lipid-lowering drugs during eight-year follow-up after a coronary heart disease event. Atherosclerosis, 2024
  10. Atorvastatin Metabolite Pattern in Skeletal Muscle and Blood from Patients with Coronary Heart Disease and Statin-Associated Muscle Symptoms. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 2023.
  11. Plasma concentration of atorvastatin metabolites correlates with low-densitylipoprotein cholesterol reduction in patients with coronary heart diseasePharmacology Research & Perspectives 2023
  12. Validation of a novel direct method to determine reduced adherence to atorvastatin therapy. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology 2023
  13. Atorvastatin lactone/acid ratios are promising biomarkers for statin dependent muscular side effects in patients with coronary heart diseaseEuropean Journal of Preventive Cardiology 2023
  14. Treatment patterns and adherence to lipid-lowering drugs during 8 years of follow-up after a cardiovascular event. European Heart Journal 2023
  15. Monitoring Simvastatin Adherence in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease: A Proof-of-Concept Study Based on Pharmacokinetic Measurements in Blood PlasmaTher Drug Monit, 2022
  16. Clinical and pharmacological characteristics in plasma and mononuclear blood cells in patients with coronary heart disease and low statin toleranceEuropean Journal of Preventive Cardiology (EJPC) 2022 (abstract)
  17.  Tailored clinical management after blinded statin challenge improved long-term lipid control in coronary patients with self-perceived muscle side-effects. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2021
  18. The relationship between directly measured statin adherence, self-reported adherence measures and cholesterol levels in patients with coronary heart disease, Atherosclerosis, 2021
  19.  Clinical and psychological factors in coronary heart disease patients with statin associated muscle side-effects. BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 2021
  20. .Effect of atorvastatin on muscle symptoms in coronary heart disease patients with self-perceived statin muscle side-effects: a randomized, double blinded crossover trial.  European Heart J Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy, 2020.
  21. Adherence to atorvastatin therapy in coronary prevention evaluated by drug plasma concentrations. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2019
  22. Statin-associated muscle symptoms in coronary patients: design of a randomized study. Scand Cardiovasc J. 2019
  23. A Method for Direct Monitoring of Atorvastatin Adherence in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention: Quantification of the Total Exposure to Parent Drug and Major Metabolites Using 2-Channel Chromatography and Tandem Mass Spectrometry. The Drug Monit. 2019