lovastatinStatins (HMG CoA reductase inhibitors) have traditionally been prescribed for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, but the landmark JUPITER trial revealed other cardiovascular benefits of their use even in patients with low LDL. I also recently wrote an blog article about a published sub-analysis of the JUPITER data demonstrating that rosuvastatin decreases the risk of symptomatic venous thromboembolism.


It appears that the advantages of statin use may also extend beyond modification of cardiovascular outcomes. It is thought that statins have inhibitory properties against hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication. In a recent study published in Hepatology, a group at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (or Liège, depending on whether you are Flemish or Wallonian) in Belgium examined five statins and their in vitro activity against HCV, in the presence or absence of antiviral therapy.

The statins included mevastatin, simvastatin, lovastatin, fluvastatin, and pravastatin. They were tested in concert with interferon-alpha, NS5B polymerase inhibitors, and/or NS3 protease inhibitors. Certain combinations of statins and antiviral agents were able to clear cells of HCV within a few days, whereas the statins and antiviral agents were independently unable to clear the cells. The group found strongest antiviral activity with mevastatin and simvastatin. Mevastatin was also found to reduce the frequency of resistance to the non-nucleoside inhibitor HCV-796. Lovastatin and fluvastatin showed moderate inhibitory effects, while pravastatin had no effect.

Although the results demonstrate potential antiretroviral properties of statins, the study was performed in vitro. It is too early to ascertain whether these findings have any real therapeutic significance or potential in vivo.

  • Source
  • Ridker PM, Danielson E, Fonseca FA, Genest J, Gotto AM Jr, Kastelein JJ, Koenig W, Libby P, Lorenzatti AJ, MacFadyen JG, Nordestgaard BG, Shepherd J, Willerson JT, Glynn RJ; JUPITER Study Group. Rosuvastatin to prevent vascular events in men and women with elevated C-reactive protein. N Engl
    J Med 2008;359:2195-207    .
  • Delang L, Paeshuyse J, Vliegen I, Leyssen P, Obeid S, Durantel D, Zoulim F, Op de Beeck A, Neyts J. Statins potentiate the in vitro anti-hepatitis C virus activity of selective hepatitis C virus
    inhibitors and delay or prevent resistance development. Hepatology
    2009    . [Epub ahead of print]
  • Image: Wikipedia