TY - JOUR
T1 - Cholesterol-independent neuroprotective and neurotoxic activities of statins
T2 - Perspectives for statin use in Alzheimer disease and other age-related neurodegenerative disorders
AU - Butterfield, D. Allan
AU - Barone, Eugenio
AU - Mancuso, Cesare
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by a NIH grant to D.A.B. [ AG-05119 ].
PY - 2011/9
Y1 - 2011/9
N2 - Statins, long known to be beneficial in conditions where dyslipidemia occurs by lowering serum cholesterol levels, also have been proposed for use in neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer disease. However, it is not clear that the purported effectiveness of statins in neurodegenerative disorders is directly related to cholesterol-lowering effects of these agents; rather, the pleiotropic functions of statins likely play critical roles. Moreover, it is becoming more apparent with additional studies that statins can have deleterious effects in preclinical studies and lack effectiveness in various recent clinical trials. This perspective paper outlines pros and cons of the use of statins in neurodegenerative disorders, with particular emphasis on Alzheimer disease.
AB - Statins, long known to be beneficial in conditions where dyslipidemia occurs by lowering serum cholesterol levels, also have been proposed for use in neurodegenerative conditions, including Alzheimer disease. However, it is not clear that the purported effectiveness of statins in neurodegenerative disorders is directly related to cholesterol-lowering effects of these agents; rather, the pleiotropic functions of statins likely play critical roles. Moreover, it is becoming more apparent with additional studies that statins can have deleterious effects in preclinical studies and lack effectiveness in various recent clinical trials. This perspective paper outlines pros and cons of the use of statins in neurodegenerative disorders, with particular emphasis on Alzheimer disease.
KW - Alzheimer disease
KW - Pleiotropic functions
KW - Statins
KW - Statins as Janus molecules
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U2 - 10.1016/j.phrs.2011.04.007
DO - 10.1016/j.phrs.2011.04.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 21536132
AN - SCOPUS:79959953827
SN - 1043-6618
VL - 64
SP - 180
EP - 186
JO - Pharmacological Research
JF - Pharmacological Research
IS - 3
ER -