A review on lovastatin and its production

Natural statin like lovastatin which is mainly produced by Aspergillus terreus strains is an inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, an enzyme involved in the biosynthetic pathway of cholesterol. The mechanism involved in controlling plasma cholesterol levels is the reversible competitive inhibition of HMG-CoA which binds to the HMG-CoA reductase due to the structural homology between the β-hydroxyacid form of the statins and the HMG-CoA intermediate formed. Mainly Lovastatin are produced industrially by liquid submerged fermentation which decreases the production cost compared to costs of chemical synthesis. Lovastatin application part is in various field like management of hypercholesterolaemia, cholesterol lowering actions, reduce the prevalence of Alzheimer’s and renal disease etc. This review deals with the structure, properties, biosynthetic pathway, submerged fermentation, applications and side effects of lovastatin.