Millions of people take drugs called statins to lower serum cholesterol levels. In a small percentage of people taking these drugs, muscle pain, termed myopathy, is an adverse effect. In a small percentage of these individuals, the condition progresses to rhabdomyolysis, in which the sarcolemma breaks down. a. Physicians can measure a patient’s levels of creatine phosphokinase to track the safety of using a statin. Enzyme levels that exceed ten times what is normal indicate possible rhabdomyolysis. Explain what this elevated enzyme level indicates about the physiology of the muscle cell. b. Explain why a dusky, dark color in the urine, resulting from the presence of myoglobin, also indicates muscle breakdown. HINT When muscle cells break down, where do the molecules that were inside the cell go?
Millions of people take drugs called statins to lower serum cholesterol levels. In a small percentage of people taking these drugs, muscle pain, termed myopathy, is an adverse effect. In a small percentage of these individuals, the condition progresses to rhabdomyolysis, in which the sarcolemma breaks down.
a. Physicians can measure a patient’s levels of creatine phosphokinase to track the safety of using a statin. Enzyme levels that exceed ten times what is normal indicate possible rhabdomyolysis. Explain what this elevated enzyme level indicates about the physiology of the muscle cell.
b. Explain why a dusky, dark color in the urine, resulting from the presence of myoglobin, also indicates muscle breakdown.
HINT When muscle cells break down, where do the molecules that were inside the cell go?
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