Role of statins in protection against Alzheimer's Disease

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• High cholesterol levels are considered to be a risk factor not only for cardiovascular disease including stroke, but also for the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, many cholesterol lowering drugs, including statins, have been developed in recent years.

• In addition to the cholesterol reducing effect , statins can protect nerve cells against damage which occur in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease patients. Treatment with a statin called Lovastatin could prevent the death of nerve cells in Alzheimer's patients. Earlierstudies show that statins stimulate the protective capacity of tumor necrosis factor, which is a key player in the brain’s immune response.

For further reading refer :

“Pretreatment with Lovastatin Prevents N-Methyl-D-Aspartate-Induced Neurodegeneration in the Magnocellular Nucleus Basalis and Behavioral Dysfunction” Amalia M. Dolga, Ivica Granic, Ingrid M. Nijholt, Csaba Nyakas, Eddy A. van der Zee, Paul G. M. Luiten, and Ulrich L. M. Eisel is published in Volume 17:2 (June 2009) of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

• Statins have been found to be very useful for human health. The basic definition says the statins (or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) are a class of drugs that lower cholesterol levels in people with or at risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Scientifically, statins are referred to as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. Cholesterol is critical to the normal function of every cell in the body. However, it also contributes to the development of atherosclerosis, a condition in which cholesterol-containing plaques form within arteries. These plaques block the arteries and reduce the flow of blood to the tissues that arteries supply. When plaques rupture, a blood clot forms on the plaque, thereby further blocking the artery and reducing the flow of blood.
• When blood flow is reduced sufficiently in the arteries that supply blood to the heart, the result is angina (chest pain) or a heart attack. If the clot occurs on plaques in the brain, the result is a stroke.
• If the clots occur on plaques in the leg, they cause intermittent claudication (pain in the legs while walking). By reducing the production of cholesterol, statins are able to slow the formation of new plaques and occasionally can reduce the size of plaques that already exist. In addition, through mechanisms that are not well understood, statins may also stabilize plaques and make them less prone to rupturing and promoting the development of clots.

• Statins exhibit action beyond lipid-lowering activity in the prevention of atherosclerosis. Researchers hypothesize that statins prevent cardiovascular disease via four proposed mechanisms (all subjects of a large body of biomedical research):

1. Improve endothelial function
2. Modulate inflammatory responses
3. Maintain plaque stability
4. Prevent thrombus formation