Mechanisms of statin-induced myalgia assessed by physiogenomic associations.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated genetic variants predictive of muscular side effects in patients treated with statins. We utilized a physiogenomic approach to prototype a multi-gene panel correlated with statin-induced myalgia.

BACKGROUND: Statin-induced myalgia occurs in ∼10% of lipid clinic outpatients. Its clinical manifestation may depend in part upon gene variation from patient to patient.

METHODS: We genotyped 793 patients (377 with myalgia and 416 without) undergoing statin therapy at four U.S. outpatient clinic sites to evaluate 31 candidate genes from the literature for their association with statin-induced common myalgia.

RESULTS: Three previously hypothesized candidate genes were validated: COQ2 (rs4693570) encoding para-hydroxybenzoate-polyprenyltransferase, which participates in the biosynthesis of coenzyme Q10 (p<0.000041); ATP2B1 (rs17381194) which encodes a calcium transporting ATPase involved in calcium homeostasis (p<0.00079); and DMPK (rs672348) which encodes a protein kinase implicated in myotonic dystrophy (p<0.0016).

CONCLUSIONS: The candidate genes COQ2, ATP2B1, and DMPK, representing pathways involved in myocellular energy transfer, calcium homeostasis, and myotonic dystonia, respectively, were validated as markers for the common myalgia observed in patients receiving statin therapy. The three genes integrated into a physiogenomic predictive system could be relevant to myalgia diagnosis and prognosis in clinical practice.