[Statins]

Statins are cholesterol-lowering drugs by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, which is a rate limiting enzyme in the mevalonate pathway. Recently, it has been shown that the mevalonate metabolites also play a role in the regulation of bone metabolism. In particular, a couple of years ago, an exciting discovery showing that statins stimulate bone formation in rodents was published. However, there have been great controversies in effects of statins on bone in human. Here we review the role of statins in bone metabolism, mainly focusing on clinical observations.