Mevinolin

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of cholesterol-lowering medication that inhibits the production of mevalonate
2. A compound that functions as a statin, ultimately reducing levels of LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream
3. An agent utilized in treating hyperlipidemia by acting on the metabolic pathway involved in cholesterol synthesis

Etymology: Mevinolin was named for the chemical it blocks. Its name blends "mevalon-", from mevalonate, the compound that the body's cholesterol-making pathway produces early on, with the "-in" ending common to naturally derived substances. The name therefore records a target, not a structure: the drug works by slowing the enzyme that converts HMG-CoA into mevalonate. The substance was first isolated from a mold, and the name was later changed to lovastatin, the name it is still known by in most pharmaceutical references. The older name survives in research literature and in the history of the statin class, to which it gave its early identity.

Synonyms: lovastatin