Question

Heart disease is the most common cause of death in the US and Arterial Sclerosis is the most common

form of heart disease in the US. Statins are a class of compounds that significantly ameliorate the onset of

this disease, and therefore statins are amongst the most commonly prescribed drugs in the US. Statins are

competitive enzyme inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase. Draw a Lineweaver – Burke plot containing two

lines (one in the absence of inhibitor and one in the presence of inhibitor) that illustrates how the kinetic

parameters V_MAX and K_M would be affected in the presence and absence of statins. Clearly label each axis

on your graph and indicate which line represents enzyme activity in the presence of inhibitor, and which

line represents enzyme activity in the absence of inhibitor. Provide an explanation of your rationale for

drawing the plots as you did.

Answer 1

statin is a competitive inhibitor of HMG COA reductase which shnyheis cholesterol which causes atherosclerosis and heart attack.

Statin competitively inhibit the function of the enzyme and thus km is increased .

But Vmax is unaltered because if you increase the concentration of substrate then the effect of inhibition will be withdrawn.