Simvastatin for MS
Statins, customarily used to lower cholesterol levels, may have another newly discovered benefit. A multicenter study suggests that their newly identified immunomodulatory effects might be the key in treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS).
Researchers enrolled 30 patients who had not taken interferon or glatiramer in the previous three months or cortico-steroids within the previous 30 days. They monitored the patients for three months and assessed magnetic resonance images of the brain each month. If the scans picked up at least one gadolinium-enhancing lesion during that phase, oral simvastatin 80 mg/day was prescribed for six months. The brain scans were repeated at the fourth, fifth, and sixth months of treatment.
Simvastatin drug reduced the number and volume of gadolinium-enhancing lesions by 44% and 41%, respectively. Mean total cholesterol values dropped from 5.0 mmol/liter at baseline to 3.5 mmol/liter at the sixth month. Low-density cholesterol (LDL) values declined from 3.1 to 1.8 mmol/liter.
