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Statins and neuroprotection
Author(s) -
Wood W. Gibson,
Eckert Gunter P.,
Igbavboa Urule,
Müller Walter E.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.05359.x
Subject(s) - neuroprotection , medicine , disease , neuroscience , statin , pharmacology , multiple sclerosis , bioinformatics , psychology , biology , psychiatry
There is growing interest in the use of statins, HMG‐CoA reductase inhibitors, for treating specific neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., cerebrovascular disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis) and possibly traumatic brain injury. Neither is there a consensus on the efficacy of statins in treating the aforementioned diseases nor are the mechanisms of the purported statin‐induced neuroprotection well‐understood. Part of the support for statin‐induced neuroprotection comes from studies using animal models and cell culture. Important information has resulted from that work but there continues to be a lack of progress on basic issues pertaining to statins and brain that impedes advancement in understanding how statins alter brain function. For example, there are scant data on the pharmacokinetics of lipophilic and hydrophilic statins in brain, statin‐induced neuroprotection versus cell death, and statins and brain isoprenoids. The purpose of this mini‐review will be to examine those aforementioned issues and to identify directions of future research.