A review on lovastatin and its production

Abstract

Natural statin like lovastatin which is mainly produced byAspergillus terreus strains is an inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase,an enzyme involved in the biosynthetic pathway of cholesterol. Themechanism involved in controlling plasma cholesterol levels isthe reversible competitive inhibition of HMG-CoA which binds tothe HMG-CoA reductase due to the structural homology betweenthe β-hydroxyacid form of the statins and the HMG-CoAintermediate formed. Mainly Lovastatin are produced industrially byliquid submerged fermentation which decreases the production costcompared to costs of chemical synthesis. Lovastatin application partis in various field like management of hypercholesterolaemia,cholesterol lowering actions, reduce the prevalence of Alzheimer’sand renal disease etc. This review deals with the structure,properties, biosynthetic pathway, submerged fermentation,applications and side effects of lovastatin.