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Statin use and delayed onset of Huntington's disease
Jordan L Schultz1,2,3, Peg C Nopoulos1,4,5, Annie Killoran4,6
1Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.
Insights
Statins may delay motor diagnosis in Huntington's disease (HD) patients. This study found statin use associated with a slower progression to motor symptoms in individuals with premotor HD.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
- Genetics
Background:
- Huntington's disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder.
- 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) show potential therapeutic benefits in HD.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between statin use and the timing of motor diagnosis in individuals with premotor Huntington's disease.
Main Methods:
- Propensity score matching was used to compare statin users and non-users from the Enroll-HD database.
- Cox regression survival analysis assessed the annualized hazard ratio (HR) of motor diagnosis.
Main Results:
- Statin users (n=89) exhibited a significantly lower annualized HR of progressing to a motor diagnosis compared to statin non-users (n=89).
- The HR for motor diagnosis was 0.27 (95% CI 0.18-0.50, P < .0001) in statin users.
Conclusions:
- Statin use is linked to a delayed motor diagnosis in patients with premotor Huntington's disease.
- Further research is needed to confirm statins as a potential disease-modifying therapy for HD.
Background:
There is evidence to suggest that 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) may be beneficial in Huntington's disease (HD).
Objective:
This study aimed to determine if statin use was associated with delayed motor diagnosis in participants with premotor HD.
Methods:
Among premotor HD participants from the Enroll-HD database, statin users were propensity score matched with statin nonusers based on cytosine-adenine-guanine-age product score, cytosine-adenine-guanine repeat length, baseline age, sex, and region. A Cox regression survival analysis compared the annualized hazard ratio (HR) of receiving a motor diagnosis between the 2 groups.
Results:
The annualized HR of progressing to an HD motor diagnosis was lower in the statin users (n = 89) when compared with the statin nonusers (n = 89; HR = 0.27 [95% CI 0.18-0.50], P < .0001).
Conclusions:
In patients with premotor HD, statin use was associated with a delayed motor diagnosis of HD. Further studies are warranted to investigate if statins would be an effective disease-modifying therapy for HD. © 2018 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.