Prescription of lipophilic statins to Alzheimer's disease patients: some controversies to consider.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common disorder causing cognitive decline in old age. It is a progressive and irreversible neuropathology with a diagnosis often missed or delayed. Cholesterol represents an important determinant of the physical state of biological membranes and in AD brains, specific changes in its membrane-ordering and Raft-organizing effects take place. A recent publication shows downregulation of Seladin-1 (selective Alzheimer's disease indicator, also called DHCR24), which catalyzes the last step of cholesterol biosynthesis in affected neurons in AD. Postmortem analysis of AD brains revealed a loss in membrane cholesterol content and this finding makes the therapeutical use of statins (especially the lipophilic ones) quite a lot controversial. Some clinical studies suggest that risk of Alzheimer's disease is substantially reduced in users of statins; however, because these studies are not randomized trials, they provide insufficient evidence to recommend statin family therapy.
Biondi
Elisa
E
Facoltà di Scienze Biologiche, Università degli Studi di Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123, Turin, Italy. 173466@studenti.unito.it
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors