Atorvastatin on Treatment of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Patients

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a condition in which excess fat builds up in the liver, often related to obesity and insulin resistance, which can lead to inflammation and scarring of the liver tissue. While efforts have been made to develop effective treatments for NAFLD, the need for pharmaceutical interventions remains unmet. Large clinical trials investigating the association between statin use and NAFLD are scarce, leading to contradictory results. Statins play a crucial role in cholesterol synthesis in the liver. Several studies have demonstrated that statins possess anti-inflammatory, anti-thrombotic, and anti-fibrotic properties. These properties make statins potentially useful in preventing the progression of NAFLD from simple steatosis to more severe forms like non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis. The results indicate that statin use is associated with a lower prevalence of NASH and fibrosis and may have a preventive effect on NAFLD.

Atorvastatin inhibits RhoC function and limits head and neck cancer metastasis

OBJECTIVE

RhoC oncogene is a well characterized marker of metastasis in a majority of invasive cancers, including HNSCC. Elevated RhoC expression has been found to be associated with distant metastasis. Statins are a class of drugs that are used to reduce cholesterol levels by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase activity which in turns prevents mevalonate synthesis, which is a precursor for synthesis of cholesterol and prenylation. Interestingly, the proper function of Rho proteins depends on prenylation. Significantly, it has been reported that metastasis in human melanoma can be reduced by atorvastatin which inhibits RhoC activity by preventing its geranylgeranylation. Given that RhoC is a key oncogene involved in metastasis, we hypothesized Atorvastatin can reduce head and neck metastasis by inhibiting RhoC activity.

METHODS

In vitro and in vivo studies were carried out to evaluate the ability of Atorvastatin to inhibit RhoC function and HNSCC metastasis. Cell motility, proliferation, cell invasion, and colony formation assays were performed according to the standard protocols.

RESULTS

Atorvastatin treatment significantly reduced the active form of RhoC in vitro and diminished cell motility, invasion, proliferation and colony formation. Importantly, we observed a significant decrease in p-ERK1/2 and p-STAT3 in Atorvastatin treated cell lines. In vivo experiments revealed inhibition of angiogenesis and lung metastases with Atorvastatin therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the first of its kind to establish a potential role of Atorvastatin in head and neck cancer therapy. These findings suggest that Atorvastatin can be a potential low risk adjuvant therapy to minimize metastases in aggressive forms of HNSCC.

Effects of atorvastatin 80 mg daily on indices of matrix remodelling in 'high-risk' patients with ischemic heart disease

Recent evidence suggests that higher doses of statins could improve clinical outcomes compared to conventional doses, but whether this benefit is due to "additional" pleiotropic effects is uncertain. We tested the hypothesis that atorvastatin 80 mg/day would have beneficial effects on indices of matrix remodelling (matrix metalloproteinase-1, MMP-1, and its tissue inhibitor, TIMP-1) in high-risk cardiovascular disease. We studied 27 "high-risk" patients (inclusion criteria: severe triple vessel but rejected for by-pass for extensive coronary disease, severe effort angina after coronary artery by-pass and premature coronary disease with > or =3 risk factors) with an abnormal lipid profile despite atorvastatin 40 mg/day, at baseline and at 3 months after increasing the statin dose to 80 mg/day. Baseline results in patients were compared to 22 healthy controls. At baseline, patients had lower levels of MMP-1 compared to controls. When atorvastatin was increased to 80 mg/day, significant reduction in LDL-cholesterol was observed, whereas MMP-1 and TIMP-1 levels were increased. These, despite of atorvastatin 40 mg daily, 'high-risk' patients still demonstrated abnormal extracellular remodelling indices. Doubling the dose of atorvastatin resulted in significant improvement in extracellular remodelling indices.

[Rosuvastatin and metformin decrease inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with hypertension and dyslipidemia]

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Both hypertension and dyslipidemia raise the risk of cardiovascular disease because they have proinflammatory effects and increase oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of rosuvastatin and metformin on inflammation and oxidative stress in patients with hypertension and dyslipidemia.

METHODS

This open parallel-group clinical study involved 48 patients with hypertension and dyslipidemia. Of these, 16 were treated with rosuvastatin, 10 mg/day, while 16 received metformin, 1700 mg/day, and the 14 in the control group received starch placebo, 10 mg/day. The following variables were recorded during the study: age, weight, body mass index, blood pressure, glucose, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) glutathione reductase (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and superoxide dismutase (SOD).

RESULTS

Administration of 10 mg/day of rosuvastatin decreased total cholesterol by 41.7%, LDL cholesterol by 63.0%, and triglycerides by 10.7%, and increased HDL cholesterol by 6.3%. Pharmacological treatment with either rosuvastatin or metformin lead to reductions in IL-6, TNFalpha, GSH and GPx levels and an increase in the SOD level, and there were significant interactions between the two treatment groups for these variables.

CONCLUSIONS

Rosuvastatin improved the lipid profile. Moreover, both rosuvastatin and metformin reduced inflammation and oxidative stress. These results demonstrate the presence of an additional cardioprotective effect, which may result from a direct mechanism of action or be a pleiotropic effect. Further long-term studies are required to determine whether rosuvastatin or metformin can be used to decrease the cardiovascular risk resulting from oxidative stress and inflammation.