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Updated: May 6, 2026

Differential Effects of Lipid-lowering Drugs in Modulating Morphology of Cholesterol Particles
Published on: November 10, 2017
Statins more than cholesterol lowering agents in Alzheimer disease: their pleiotropic functions as potential
Eugenio Barone1, Fabio Di Domenico2, D Allan Butterfield1
1Department of Chemistry, Center of Membrane Sciences, and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0055, USA.
Abstract:
Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by severe cognitive impairment, inability to perform activities of daily living and mood changes. Statins, long known to be beneficial in conditions where dyslipidemia occurs by lowering serum cholesterol levels, also have been proposed for use in neurodegenerative conditions, including AD. However, it is not clear that the purported effectiveness of statins in neurodegenerative disorders is directly related to cholesterol-lowering effects of these agents; rather, the pleiotropic functions of statins likely play critical roles. The aim of this review is to provide an overview on the new discoveries about the effects of statin therapy on the oxidative and nitrosative stress levels as well as on the modulation of the heme oxygenase/biliverdin reductase (HO/BVR) system in the brain. We propose a novel mechanism of action for atorvastatin which, through the activation of HO/BVR-A system, may contribute to the neuroprotective effects thus suggesting a potential therapeutic role in AD and potentially accounting for the observation of decreased AD incidence with persons on statin.
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