McAllister Heart Institute Seminar Series: Deepak Voora, MD, “Genotype-informed Statin Therapy”

Speaker: Dr. Deepak Voora, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Center for Applied Genomics and Precision Medicine at Duke University
Topic: “Genotype-informed Statin Therapy”

Seminar Synopsis: Statins are among the most commonly prescribed medications to lower cholesterol and to prevent cardiovascular disease. Although well tolerated by most patients, a significant proportion of patients develop musculoskeletal symptoms associated with statin therapy that can lead to premature statin discontinuation, elevated cholesterol, and increased risk for cardiovascular events. Our group was among the first to discover a reduced function genetic variant in the SLCO1B1 gene that predisposes to higher statin concentrations and statin-associated musculoskeletal symptoms (SAMS). We have extended this finding to higher cholesterol levels in patients with cardiovascular disease treated with statins and tested for effects on cardiovascular events. The statin-specific nature of SLCO1B1 associations with SAMS that we and others have identified laid the foundation to translate our findings into the clinic. We have developed a genotype-informed statin therapy (GIST) intervention based on communicating SLCO1B1 genotype based risk for SAMS and tailored prescriptions to reduce the risk of SAMS. In two prospective studies, including a randomized clinical trial, GIST improves perceptions of statin therapy, increased statin re-initiation, and lowered cholesterol levels in patients with statin-intolerance.