Besides known to treat high cholesterol, statins can also be used to take care of rapid weight loss, weakness and wasting of the body due to cancer, Brazilian researchers have found.
The condition known as cachexia, or wasting syndrome, iscommon among patients with chronic diseases such as cancer, heart failure andAIDS.
A process of adipose tissue remodelling known as browningoccurs in patients with cachexia and that browning significantly contributes tothe rapid loss of weight and fat, according to researchers from the Universityof Mogi das Cruzes (UMC) in Brazil.
In experiments on mice, the team identified a key proteinTLR4 (toll-like receptor 4) in this process and showed that”atorvastatin” — a class of statins — can attenuate its effects.
Treatment with atorvastatin proved effective in extendingsurvival, attenuating adipose tissue remodeling and reducing tumour growth [by49.7 per cent] in comparison with a control group not treated with the drug.
“We showed that atorvastatin had a direct effect on theaction of TLR4, which inhibited adipose tissue browning and reduced tumourgrowth,” said lead author Miguel Luiz Batista Junior, Professor at thevarsity.
In the study, reported in the journal Scientific Reports,the team induced lung cancer in genetically modified mice (without TLR4) and incontrol wild-type mice (with TLR4).
“Adipose tissue was less altered in the geneticallymodified mice without TLR4. In other words, lack of the receptor significantlyblocked the adipose tissue browning effect,” Batista said.
But in mice treated with atorvastatin, the result was even better than that in genetically modified mice without TLR4.