Fermented Cholesterol Lowering Drug (Lovastatin)

Lovastatin is an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG-CoA reductase), an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate. In western countries, the most significant cause of death is the coronary heart disease and progression of atherosclerosis which is mostly related to the hypercholesterolemia. Approximately 10.8% of all deaths are caused due to this disease. Coronary heart disease actually is a wide assortment of diseases. It has been reported that 30 million people have familial hypercholesterolemia worldwide, but less than 1% of cases are diagnosed in most countries. A lab experiment was carried out for fungal production of lovastatin in solid state fermentation. Fermentation medium was optimized by optimizing the fermentation parameters (pH, temperature, inoculum size, moisture contents etc.).