Statin-induced immunomodulation alters peripheral invariant natural killer T-cell prevalence in hyperlipidemic patients

Simvastatin Enhances the Immune Response Against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis remains a serious threat worldwide. For this reason, it is necessary to identify agents that shorten the duration of treatment, strengthen the host immune system, and/or decrease the damage caused by the infection. Statins are drugs that reduce plasma cholesterol levels and have immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. Although there is evidence that statins may contribute to the containment of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, their effects on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) involved in the immune response have not been previously described. Using PBMCs from 10 healthy subjects infected with M. tuberculosis H37Rv, we analyzed the effects of simvastatin on the treatment of the infections in an in vitro experimental model. Direct quantification of M. tuberculosis growth (in CFU/mL) was performed. Phenotypes and cell activation were assessed via multi-color flow cytometry. Culture supernatant cytokine levels were determined via cytokine bead arrays. The induction of apoptosis and autophagy was evaluated via flow cytometry and confocal microscopy. Simvastatin decreased the growth of M. tuberculosis in PBMCs, increased the proportion of NKT cells in culture, increased the expression of co-stimulatory molecules in monocytes, promoted the secretion of the cytokines IL-1β and IL-12p70, and activated apoptosis and autophagy in monocytes, resulting in a significant reduction in bacterial load. We also observed an increase in IL-10 production. We did not observe any direct antimycobacterial activity. This study provides new insight into the mechanism through which simvastatin reduces the mycobacterial load in infected PBMCs. These results demonstrate that simvastatin activates several immune mechanisms that favor the containment of M. tuberculosis infection, providing relevant evidence to consider statins as candidates for host-directed therapy. They also suggest that future studies are needed to define the roles of statin-induced anti-inflammatory mechanisms in tuberculosis treatment.

Potential Effect of Statins on Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection

Tuberculosis is one of the 10 leading causes of death in the world. The current treatment is based on a combination of antimicrobials administered for six months. It is essential to find therapeutic agents with which the treatment time can be shortened and strengthen the host immune response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. M. tuberculosis needs cholesterol to infect and survive inside the host, but the progression of the infection depends to a large extent on the capacity of the immune response to contain the infection. Statins inhibit the synthesis of cholesterol and have pleiotropic effects on the immune system, which have been associated with better results in the treatment of several infectious diseases. Recently, it has been reported that cells treated with statins are more resistant to M. tuberculosis infection, and they have even been proposed as adjuvants in the treatment of M. tuberculosis infection. The aim of this review is to summarize the immunopathogenesis of tuberculosis and its mechanisms of evasion and to compile the available scientific information on the effect of statins in the treatment of tuberculosis.

Identification of the differentially expressed genes associated with familial combined hyperlipidemia using bioinformatics analysis

The aim of the present study was to screen the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCHL) and examine the changing patterns. The transcription profile of GSE18965 was obtained from the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus database, including 12 FCHL samples and 12 control specimens. The DEGs were identified using a linear models for microarray data package in the R programming language. Gene Ontology (GO) function and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was also performed. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks of the DEGs were constructed using the EnrichNet online tool. In addition, cluster analysis of the genes in networks was performed using ClusterONE. A total of 879 DEGs were screened, including 394 upregulated and 485 downregulated genes. Enrichment analysis identified four important KEGG pathways associated with FCHL: One carbon pool by folate, α-linolenic acid metabolism, asthma and the glycosphingolipid biosynthesis-globo series. GO annotation identified 12 enriched biological processes, including one associated with hematopoiesis and four associated with bone cell differentiation. This identification was in accordance with clinical data and experiments into hyperlipidemia and bone lesions. Based on PPI networks, these DEGs had a close association with immune responses, hormone responses and cytokine-cytokine receptors. In conclusion, these DEGs may be used as specific therapeutic molecular targets in the treatment of FCHL. The present findings may provide the basis for understanding the pathogenesis of FCHL in future studies. However, further experiments are required to confirm these results.