it has now unexpectedly been found that the co - ordinated use — this term will be defined precisely here below — of l - carnitine or an alkanoyl l - carnitine , in which the linear or branched alkanoyl has 2 - 6 carbon atoms , or one of their pharmacologically acceptable salts and a statin affords a protective action against statin - induced toxic or side effects . the well - known lack of toxic and side effects of l - carnitine and of the alkanoyl l - carnitines and the protective action exerted by these compounds on statin - induced toxic or side effects allow the statins to be used at doses higher than those usually administered ( 10 - 20 mg / day ). the coordinated use according to the invention is particularly useful and safe for the treatment of both hypercholesterolaemic and / or hyper - triglyceridaemic patients at high risk for cardiovascular disease in the short , medium or long term . thanks to the protective effect exerted by l - carnitine or by the alkanoyl l - carnitines , it has been found , in fact , that it is possible to use higher doses of statin than those normally used in human therapy , while the dose of l - carnitine or alkanoyl l - carnitines may be 100 - 3000 mg / day . in the context of the invention described herein , what is meant by “ co - ordinated use ” of the above - mentioned compounds is , indifferently , either ( i ) co - administration , i . e . the substantially simultaneous administra - tion of l - carnitine or one of the aforesaid alkanoyl l - carnitines or one of their pharmacologically acceptable salts and of a statin , or ( ii ) the administration of a composition comprising the aforesaid active ingredients in combination and in a mixture , in addition to possible excipients . what is meant by co - administration is also a pack or manufactured article , comprising distinct administration forms of l - carnitine or one of the aforesaid alkanoyl l - carnitines , or one of their pharmacologically acceptable salts and a statin , accompanied by instructions for the co - ordinated simultaneous intake of the active ingredients according to a dosage regimen established by the primary care physician on the basis of the patient &# 39 ; s condition . the invention described herein therefore covers both the co - administration of l - carnitine or one of the aforesaid alkanoyl l - carnitines , or one of their pharmacologically acceptable salts and a statin , and pharmaceutical compositions which can be administered orally or parenterally , comprising a mixture of the two active ingredients . the subject matter of the invention described herein also includes the use of a therapeutically effective amount of a statin and a detoxifying amount of l - carnitine or an alkanoyl l - carnitine in which the linear or branched alkanoyl has 2 - 6 carbon atoms , or of one of their pharmacologically acceptable salts for the preparation of a medicinal agent useful for the treatment of diseases caused by lipid metabolism disorders , characterised in that said medicinal agent presents reduced statin - induced toxic or side effects . a further subject of the invention described herein is the use of a detoxifying amount of l - carnitine or an alkanoyl l - carnitine , in which the linear of branched alkanoyl has 2 - 6 carbon atoms , or one of their pharmacologically acceptable salts , for the preparation of a medicinal agent useful for the treatment of statin - induced toxic or side effects . the invention described herein also comprises the use of l - carnitine or an alkanoyl l - carnitine , in which the linear or branched alkanoyl has 2 - 6 carbon atoms , or of one of their pharmacologically acceptable salts , for the preparation of a medicinal agent useful for the treatment of statin - induced toxic or side effects . the statin is preferably selected from the group consisting of lovastatin , simvastatin , pravastatin and fluvastatin , while the to alkanoyl l - carnitine is preferably selected from the group consisting of acetyl l - carnitine , propionyl l - carnitine , butyryl l - carnitine , valeryl l - carnitine and isovaleryl l - carnitine or one of their pharmacologically acceptable salts . more preferably , the statin is simvastatin and the alkanoyl l - carnitine is propionyl l - carnitine or one of its pharmacologically acceptable salts . even more preferably , the statin is simvastatin and the carnitine is l - carnitine or one of its pharmacologically acceptable salts . what is meant by a pharmacologically acceptable salt of an alkanoyl l - carnitine is any salt of this with an acid which does not give rise to toxic or side effects . these acids are well known to pharmacologists and to experts in pharmaceutical technology . examples of pharmaceutically acceptable salts of alkanoyl l - carnitines , though not exclusively these , are chloride , bromide , orotate , acid aspartate , acid citrate , acid phosphate , fumarate and acid fumarate , maleate and acid maleate , mucate , acid oxalate , acid sulphate , glucose phosphate , tartrate and acid tartrate . by favouring the use of larger doses of statins , the combination according to the invention allows better treatment of diseases related to lipid metabolism disorders , thus achieving greater therapeutic success . the combination according to the invention also contributes to the healing and to prolonging the lives of the patients treated , amongst other things thanks to the increase in therapeutic success rates due to the possibility of maintaining the scheduled treatment protocols for longer periods , without having to discontinue the treatment owing to the toxic or side effects of the statins . the protective action of l - carnitine or of an alkanoyl l - carnitine on the toxic or side effects of statins has been confirmed by the results of experimental studies , which are reported here below . though reference is made in these examples only to l - carnitine , it must , however , be understood that such protection is also afforded by the above - mentioned alkanoyl l - carnitines and by their pharmacologically acceptable salts . male wister rats aged 23 days and weighing 45 - 50 g were used . the animals were housed in polycarbonate cages , 5 animals per cage , maintained at a constant temperature of 22 ± 2 ° c . and at 55 ± 15 % relative humidity , with a light - darkness cycle of 12 hours , fed on 4rf21 pellet feed ( mucedola ), with tap water to drink ad libitum . the control group consisted of 14 animals , whereas the groups treated with simvastatin at various doses and with simvastatin plus l - carnitine consisted of 10 animals each , according to the following experimental design : l - carnitine was given by oral administration via a gastric tube , twice daily ( 2 × 200 mg / kg ) suspended in 0 . 5 % carboxymethylcellulose ( cmc ) to the groups treated with statin , or in water when administered alone . simvastatin was administered orally suspended in 0 . 5 % carboxy - methylcellulose ( cmc ) ( 10 ml / kg ). 24 hours after the last treatment , the animals were anaesthetised and blood samples were taken from the sublingual vein . the blood was centrifuged at 400 rpm for 30 min and the serum thus obtained was used to evaluate plasma levels of ck , got , gpt and cholesterol . the ck , got , gpt and cholesterol analyses were carried out using a cobas mira s ( roche ) automatic analyser and roche diagnostic kits . since the plasma enzyme activity showed a highly skewed distribution , it was decided to analyse the data using the non - parametric mann - whitney u test ; the test data are shown as median values together with the associated ranges . the results presented in table 1 indicate that the administration of simvastatin at the highest dose ( 210 mg / kg ) caused a substantial and significant increase in plasma got ( p & lt ; 0 . 002 ), gpt ( p & lt ; 0 . 002 ) and ck ( p & lt ; 0 . 05 ) compared to controls . at a lower dose ( 140 mg / kg ), simvastatin treatment caused an increase in all the enzyme activities tested , with got ( p & lt ; 0 . 002 ) and gpt ( p & lt ; 0 . 02 ). simvastatin treatment at the lowest dose ( 70 mg / kg ) did not significantly increase the enzyme activity tested . the cholesterol level was significantly lowered only at the highest simvastatin dose used . the administration of l - carnitine to the groups treated with is simvastatin showed lower plasma ck activity compared to the group treated with simvastatin alone . statistically , l - carnitine administration was significantly effective in counterbalancing the plasma ck elevation at the simvastatin doses of 140 and 210 mg / kg ( table 1 ). simvastatin treatment at the lowest dose ( 70 mg / kg ) in combination with l - carnitine reduced plasma ck activity as compared to simvastatin alone at the same dose , though not to a statistically significant extent . the results of these studies furnish substantial evidence of the protective action of l - carnitine and of the alkanoyl l - carnitines on the toxic and side effects of statins which constitutes the basis for the invention described herein . in a second experiment conducted in the same way as the first , the only difference being that l - carnitine was administered in the animals &# 39 ; drinking water , comparable results were obtained . therefore , a further realisation of the invention described herein comprises the coordinated use of l - carnitine or one of its alkanoyl derivatives or one of their pharmacologically acceptable salts and of a statin according to the above definitions , in the treatment of animals , such as , for example , livestock and , particularly , pets . in this particular realisation , l - carnitine , or one of its derivatives , may be in solid form , such as , for example , fumarate , tartrate or mucate , to be dissolved in drinking water , or in metered - dose liquid form , to be diluted .
a pharmaceutical composition is described , comprising a lipid - lowering drug such as lovastatin , simvastatin , pravastatin and fluvastatin and l - carnitine or an alkanoyl l - carnitine , which , while conserving the efficacy of the lipid - lowering drug , is substantially devoid of the toxic or side effects typical of such drugs .