12 We found that there were some published articles that reported interactions between statins and other drugs.13 There are only few case reports in regards to the interaction between some statins (such as lovastatin and simvastatin) and levothyroxine.11,14 Demke et al reported that the addition of lovastatin to levothyroxine in a selleck chemicals llc hypothyroid patient resulted in reversible decrease and increase in the serum levels of thyroxine and increase in thyroid-stimulating hormone, respectively.11 Also, there were two case reports of interaction between simvastatin and thyroxine. The first one was a 75-year-old hypothyroid woman whose thyroid Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical status was well-controlled

with levothyroxine (800 µg/wk). Because

of hypercholesterolemia she began taking simvastatin (10 mg/d). Afterwards, she gradually felt tired, complained of abdominal pain, and had an increased serum level of TSH and a lower than normal limit of FT4. Increasing the dose of levothyroxine to 900 µg/week did not lead to the improvement in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the patient’s symptoms. After discontinuation of simvastatin, the symptoms of the case resolved slowly, and the TSH level returned to normal.14 Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical The second case was a man (81 years old) whose TSH levels increased to 11.76 IU/L, and FT4 was lower than normal levels. Therefore, thyroxine at 50 µg/d was prescribed for him. In addition, the patient started receiving simvastatin at 10 mg/d. After one week of treatment, serum levels of TSH continued to increase up to 23.9 IU/L. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical However, four weeks after simvastatin discontinuation TSH serum concentrations decreased to the normal range, with no need to make a change in the throxine dosage.14 Sometimes drug interactions can cause failure in the thyroxine therapy of hypothyroid patients. There are some interactions between levothyroxine,

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical namely interfering in the absorption of levothyroxine.7-9 The present study showed that serum levels of TSH and FT4 in the hypothyroid patients under treatment of levothyroxine did not change Phosphatidylinositol diacylglycerol-lyase after simvastatin use. Demke et al suggested that lovastatin might have caused the gastrointestinal absorption of thyroxine.11 Kisch et al suggested that excess formation of CYP 3A4 in the liver by simvastatin can be the cause of increased thyroxine catabolism.14 All patients who referred to the Clinic were asked to observe a space of at least 4 hours between administration of levothyroxine and simvastatin, so it’s unlikely that simvastatin could cause a decrease in the absorption of levothyroxine. If there had been an interaction between levothyroxine and simvastatin, serum levels of FT4 should have been decreased after simvastatin administration. However, the findings did not show any significant change in FT4 after simvastatin administration.