Stimulation of inflammatory responses in vitro and in vivo by lipophilic HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors

PA Kiener, PM Davis, JL Murray, S Youssef… - International …, 2001 - Elsevier
The enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase catalyses the
rate limiting step in cholesterol biosynthesis and is markedly inhibited by the statin family of
drugs. The effect of statins on lipid lowering is clearly defined, but the ability of the drugs to
directly regulate inflammatory functions has not been well explored. In this report, we show
that there are differences among the statins in their capacity to induce proinflammatory
responses both in human monocytes in vitro, and in leukocytes in mice in vivo. Treatment of …