The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7224 p704
16 November 2002

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Neurology (www.neurology.org)

Potential roles for statins widening to include MS

Growing research evidence suggests that statins could modify and even stop disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS).

American researchers have found that atorvastatin can prevent disease relapse and reduce inflammation in the nervous system of mice with MS (Nature 2002;420:78).

They induced auto-immune encephalomyelitis in a group of mice and found that the mice subsequently treated with 10mg/kg atorvastatin had fewer inflammatory lesions in their brains after 36 days than mice that were treated with vehicle only (0.33±0.4 versus 61±20, P<0.001).

In addition, treating mice with 10mg/kg atorvastatin before disease induction prevented the onset of auto-immune encephalomyelitis over 14 days, while the mean day of disease onset in mice pre-treated with vehicle only was 10±1.

The researchers say that atorvastatin appears to favour the production of T cells that fight inflammation rather than destructive T cells, possibly by preventing cells from displaying surface proteins that stimulate inflammatory T cells.

In an accompanying news and views arcticle (ibid, p39), Professor Hartmut Wekerle of the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Germany notes that statins have already been used to combat organ rejection following transplant operations and that clinical trials of statins in MS patients are already under way. However, he adds that this latest study provides a clue about how this class of drugs may exert its anti-inflammatory effect.

Last month, Austrian researchers also demonstrated that statins could modulate immune response in vitro (Neurology 2002;59:990).

They isolated immune cells from blood samples taken from people with MS and treated them with simvastatin, lovastatin or mevastatin, alone or in combination with beta interferon. Statin treatment inhibited expression of several immune molecules implicated in MS, and added to the inhibitory action of beta interferon when used in combination.