Simvastatin: Biological Production, Therapeutic Applications and Proposed Alternative Hypothesis for Biosynthesis
Shivani Gupta, Suman Kapur, Jawahar Nagar, Shameerpet Mandal · 2014
Simvastatin is a potent inhibitor of the enzyme, 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) that catalyzes the rate limiting step in cholesterol biosynthesis pathway. Simvastatin is active in vitro as well as in vivo to inhibit cholesterol synthesis. It lowers plasma cholesterol level, thus effective in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Simvastatin is semi synthetically derived from lovastatin, a secondary metabolite of fungal origin. Bio catalytic production of simvastatin at industrial scale is of great interest because it decreases its production cost well as environmental impact in comparison to chemical synthesis of simvastatin. Simvastatin has been reported as a potential therapeutic agent in the regulation of inflammatory and immune response, bone turnover, neovascularisation, vascular tone, and arterial pressure along with hypocholestremic property. The present review deals with the structure, biosynthesis, pharmacological properties, therapeutic applications and alternative strategies for biological synthesis of simvastatin.