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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Differential Effects of Lipid-lowering Drugs in Modulating Morphology of Cholesterol Particles
Published on: November 10, 2017
Statins--a cure-all for the brain?
Til Menge1, Hans-Peter Hartung, Olaf Stüve
1Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0114, San Francisco, California 94143-0114, USA.
Abstract:
'Statins' are 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors - oral cholesterol-lowering drugs that are used to treat hypercholesterolaemia. It is widely accepted that statins have anti-inflammatory effects that are independent of their ability to lower cholesterol. Animal studies and observational clinical studies have indicated that statins might also be effective in treating certain neurological diseases - in particular, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and ischaemic stroke. At present, however, results from ongoing prospective, randomized clinical trials are not available.
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