ABSTRACT
Background: Hypolipidemic drugs need to be prescribed lifelong for most of the selected patients, once started. Price variation can lead to huge financial strain on the patients, especially when cost associated issues are not considered by the prescribing medical practitioner. This study was conducted to compare the cost, to the patient, of seven most commonly prescribed preparations of different brands of Rosuvastatin ten milligram, in Kolhapur city.Methods: Authors purchased a strip of 10 capsules each of the seven leading brands of Rosuvastatin ten milligrams. The prices of the strip of 10 capsules of each of the seven chosen brands were compared. Finally, the cost of each of these seven brands for one year, was compared directly as well as using percentages. The data was collected, analysed and presented in tabular forms and figures.Results: The data of the cost of seven different brands of a single hypolipidemic drug, Rosuvastatin ten milligram shows that the cost of the costliest among the seven brands of this drug for one year is almost two times that of the cheapest brand, or in other words almost 200 percent that of the cheapest brand.Conclusions: The cost differences between the cheapest and the costliest brands were substantial. The cost of remaining five brands was dispersed in between these two extremes. India, with a major part of the population being highly concerned about the cost of medications, the prescribing medical practitioner must select the preparation wisely . The most costly preparation of Rosuvastatin ten milligram can substantially add to the financial strain on the patient’s yearly expenses. Thus, Pharmaco economic considerations must be a prime concern while making a decision to prescribe medicines, especially in a country like India.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of Maiqi-Jiangtang pill on the glycolipid level in type 2 diabetic ob/ob mice.Methods The 8-week old male ob/ob mice were randomly divided into Maiqi-Jiangtang pill high- (8 g/kg), medium- (4 g/kg), low- (2 g/kg) dose groups. All the mice orally adiministered with the drugs once a day for 10 weeks. The same week age normal C57BL/6J control mice and ob/ob model group mice were orally administered with the equal volume solvent. The body weight per week were recorded. The fasting blood-glucose (FBG) was measured by glycemic instrument. The content of TG, TC, HDL-C, LDL-C in serum, and TG and TC content in liver were determined by biochemical method. The liver index was calculated.Results Compared with ob/ob model group, there was no significant change in body weight of mice administered with Maiqi-Jiangtang pill for 10 weeks. Compared with the model group, the low-, medium- dose Maiqi-Jiangtang pill could significantly decrease the FBG (7.43 ± 1.71 mmol/L,7.84 ± 1.09 mmol/L vs.8.95 ± 0.96mmol/L), the high- dose Maiqi-Jiangtang pill could significantly reduce the TG (0.93 ± 0.16 mmol/L vs.1.18 ± 0.26 mmol/L) and LDL-C (2.10 ± 0.51 mmol/L vs.2.56 ± 0.44 mmol/L) content in serum of ob/ob mice (P<0.05), increase the HDL-C/LDL-C ratio (2.40 ± 0.39vs.1.96 ± 0.24) in serum (P<0.01), decrease the liver weight (3.52 ± 0.26 gvs. 3.98 ± 0.35 g) and the liver index (0.063 ± 0.004vs. 0.071 ± 0.006) (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the low dose Maiqi-Jiangtang pill could also significantly decrease the TG level (0.63 ± 0.25 mmol/gvs. 1.05 ± 0.67 mmol/g) in liver and significantly increase the HDL-C/LDL-C ratio (2.30 ± 0.44vs. 1.96 ± 0.24) in serum (P<0.05).Conclusions The Maiqi-Jiangtang pill can reduce lipid in serum and liver of ob/ob mice while it can decrease the blood glucose, which need to further study its mechanism.
ABSTRACT
Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the most prevalent cause of death and disability in developed and developing countries. There is a wide variation in the prices of hypolipidemic drugs marketed in India. Thus, a study was planned to find out variation in cost in the oral hypolipidemic drugs available in India either as a single drug or in combination and to evaluate the difference in cost of various brands of the same oral hypolipidemic drug by calculating percentage variation in cost in Indian rupees. Methods: Cost of oral hypolipidemic drugs manufactured by different pharmaceutical companies, in the same strength and dosage forms was obtained from “Current Index of Medical Specialties” July-October 2014 and “Indian Drug Review” Vol. XXI, Issue No.4, 2014. The difference in the maximum and minimum price of the same drug manufactured by different pharmaceutical companies and percentage variation in cost per 10 tablets was calculated. Results: Percentage variation in cost for hypolipidemic drugs marketed in India was found to be atorvastatin (10 mg): 1108.33%, simvastatin (5 mg): 709.09%, rosuvastatin (10 mg): 431.91%, lovastatin (10 mg): 287%, fenofibrate (200 mg): 163.58%. Among the combination therapy, variation in cost was atorvastatin + fenofibrate (10+160 mg): 233.33%, atorvastatin + ezetimibe (20+20 mg): 132.90%, rosuvastatin + fenofibrate (10+145 mg): 105.56%. Conclusion: There is a wide difference in the cost of different brands of oral hypolipidemic drugs available in India. The clinicians prescribing these drugs should be aware of these variations in cost to reduce the cost of drug therapy.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current application situation and the trend of development of oral hypolipidemic drugs in Hangzhou area.METHODS: The consumption sum and the defined daily dose(DDDs) of the oral anti-hyperlipidemia drugs in 20 hospitals in Hangzhou area during 2004～2006 were analyzed retrospectively.RESULTS: The consumption sum of hypolipidemic drugs increased year by year,up 47.4% in 2006 as comapred with that in 2004.Atorvastatin calcium,simvastatin and fenofibrate ranked ahead in both consumption sum and DDDs.CONCLUSION: HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors assumed a dominant role among all the hypolipidemic drugs used in Hangzhou area.