In the new trial, called Jupiter, Ridker and his colleagues studied 17,802 patients with normal cholesterol levels and elevated CRP, as measured by a test called high-sensitivity CRP, on which Ridker and his hospital hold the patent.
Men in the study were over 50; women were over 60. About 7,000 of the patients were women and 5,000 were minorities -- both groups that have not received much attention in previous statin trials.
Half of the patients received 20 milligrams of rosuvastatin and half a placebo.
"We specifically chose rosuvastatin because it is the most potent of the statins," said Ridker, who has worked as a consultant to AstraZeneca and other pharmaceutical companies. "We got very large effects on both [cholesterol] and CRP."
Low-density lipoproteins, the so-called bad cholesterol, were reduced by 50%, and CRP was reduced by 37%.
Patients receiving rosuvastatin had a 54% lower risk of heart attacks, a 48% lower risk of stroke and a 46% lower risk of requiring either angioplasty or bypass surgery, Ridker said.
There were 136 heart-related problems a year for every 10,000 people taking the placebo, compared with 77 for those taking rosuvastatin.
"This is very good news for these populations," Ridker said.
The primary side effect was a slight increase in newly diagnosed diabetes among those taking the drug, an increase that has also been noted in previous trials of statins.
Experts believe that the benefits of a regimen of statins for the targeted patient group outweigh any increase in side effects.
"This will become an important part of the armamentarium of the primary care doctor," Weaver said. "I see this as being part of that panel of preventions that they will be applying in men over 50 and women over 60."
The CRP test costs about $80.
Dr. James Stein and Dr. Jon Keevil of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, estimate that about 4% of the adult U.S. population, about 7.4 million people, fit the criteria to receive the test.
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thomas.maugh@latimes.com
