Statins May Protect Heart From Chemo for Early Breast Cancer

In continuation of my update on statins 

For women with early breast cancer treated with anthracyclines, statin exposure is associated with a lower risk for hospital presentation for heart failure, according to a study published online Jan. 6 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Husam Abdel-Qadir, M.D., Ph.D., from the Women's College Hospital in Toronto, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study involving women aged 66 years and older without prior heart failure who received anthracyclines or trastuzumab for newly diagnosed early breast cancer. Using propensity scores, statin-exposed and unexposed women were matched in a 1:1 ratio. Data were included for 666 statin-discordant pairs of anthracycline-treated women and 390 pairs of trastuzumab-treated women.

The researchers found that the five-year cumulative incidence of heart failure hospital presentations after anthracyclines was 1.2 percent (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.5 to 2.6 percent) and 2.9 percent (95 percent CI, 1.7 to 4.6 percent) in statin-exposed and unexposed women, respectively (P = 0.01). In the anthracycline cohort, the cause-specific hazard ratio associated with statins was 0.45 (95 percent CI, 0.24 to 0.85; P = 0.01). The five-year cumulative incidence of heart failure hospital presentations after trastuzumab was 2.7 percent (95 percent CI, 1.2 to 5.2 percent) and 3.7 percent (95 percent CI, 2.0 to 6.2 percent) in statin-exposed and unexposed women, respectively (P = 0.09), with a cause-specific hazard ratio associated with statins of 0.46 (95 percent CI, 0.20 to 1.07; P = 0.07).

"This study does not conclusively prove statins are protective," Abdel-Qadir said in a statement. "However, this study builds on the body of evidence suggesting that they may have benefits."

Statins Help the Heart, No Matter What Your Age

Cholesterol-lowering statins are already known to help cut heart risks for seniors and the middle-aged. Now, research confirms the meds can also help people aged 75 and older.

"Statin therapy has been shown to prevent cardiovascular disease in a wide range of people, but there has been uncertainty about its efficacy and safety among older people," said lead investigator Anthony Keech. He's a professor of medicine, cardiology and epidemiology at the University of Sydney in Australia.

He and colleagues at the University of Oxford in England analyzed the findings of 28 large clinical trials of statins. The trials involved nearly 187,000 people in six age groups: younger than 55; 55 to 60; 60 to 65; 65 to 70; 70 to 75; and older than 75.

"Our study summarized all the available evidence from major trials to help clarify this issue. We found that there were significant reductions in major vascular events in each of the six age groups considered, including patients [who were] aged over 75 at the start of treatment," Keech said in an Oxford news release.

Major vascular events included heart attack, stroke and procedures to clear clogged arteries.

"Statin therapy appears to be just as effective in people aged over 75 years as it is in younger people," study co-investigator Jordan Fulcher said in the news release. Fulcher is a cardiovascular research fellow at the University of Sydney.

"We have definitive evidence that statins benefit older people who have suffered a heart attack or stroke. Fewer healthy older people were represented in these trials, so more information in this group of people would help confirm the same benefits that we see in our overall trials population," he said.

Fulcher noted that a new randomized trial in Australia is exploring whether statins prolong disability-free survival in a healthy population.

The risk of heart attacks and strokes rises sharply with age, yet statins are not used as widely in older people as they should be, study co-investigator Colin Baigent said in the news release. He's director of Oxford's Medical Research Council Population Health Research Unit.

"Since the risk of heart attack and stroke increases with age, the potential benefits are likely to be even greater for older people," he said.

"Therefore, there is a need to ensure that patients at risk of cardiovascular disease due to their age are offered statin therapy where there is good reason to believe that it will be beneficial," Baigent said.

Anyone with concerns about whether statin therapy is right for them should discuss it with their health care provider, he added.

Statins may shield unborn babies from mother's stress, study suggests

In continuation of my update on statins

Scientists have discovered that the widely-prescribed drugs help to counteract the negative impact of stress hormones on fetal growth and heart development in mice.

The therapy could lower the chances of babies being born underweight and reduce their risk of health problems in later life, including heart disease, researchers say.

Further studies are needed to assess the long-term effects of statins in pregnancy, but the drugs are already used occasionally in pregnant women and should be suitable for clinical trials, the team says.

Babies that are exposed to excessive stress hormones in the womb are often born underweight and have a greater risk of heart disease in later life.

Normally, the unborn baby is protected by a key enzyme produced by the placenta that breaks down stress hormones and greatly limits the amount of active hormones that reach the baby's blood supply.

When the expectant mother is stressed, they produce less of this enzyme and the baby is less well protected.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh studied mice that cannot produce the enzyme as a model of maternal stress.

They found that stress hormones stop the placenta from developing normal blood vessels, which cuts back the blood supply to the growing fetus.

The developing fetus does not grow to full size as a result, and its heart function does not develop normally.

Treating the mother with a type of statin triggers production of a molecule called VEGF, which stimulates the development of blood vessels in the placenta.

By re-establishing the blood supply, the treatment promotes normal development of the heart and helps the baby to grow to a healthy birthweight, the team showed.

Around 2.5 million people in the UK take statins to lower high cholesterol.

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and was funded by the Wellcome Trust. The research also received funding from the Raine Medical Research Foundation, University of Western Australia.

Professor Megan Holmes, of the University of Edinburgh's British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, said: "These are very exciting results suggesting that there may finally be a potential therapy for women whose placenta is unable to maintain the normal growth of her baby.

"At present there is no treatment and babies may be born prematurely or small, and will be at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes and even psychiatric disorders later in life. Although more work needs to be done to show statins are safe in human pregnancy, these results show a new way forward for the major unmet need of fetal growth retardation."

Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Low birthweight has been associated with maternal stress, and babies with low birthweights may be more prone to cardiovascular complications later in life.

"In this study the researchers have discovered that a drug called Pravastatin may counteract the consequences of increased levels of the stress hormone corticosterone within the placentas of mice. How Pravastatin counteracts the stress hormone is not yet understood, therefore more research is needed to see whether the drug will have the same effect in humans."

Ref : http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/05/10/1520356113

Cholesterol-fighting statins inhibit uterine fibroid tumors that account for 50% of hysterectomies...

In continuation of my update on simvastatin

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, in collaboration with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Baylor College of Medicine and the Georgia Regents University, report for the first time that the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin inhibits the growth of human uterine fibroid tumors. These new data are published online and scheduled to appear in the January print edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Statins, such as simvastatin, are commonly prescribed to lower high cholesterol levels. Statins work by blocking an early step in cholesterol production.

Beyond these well-known cholesterol-lowering abilities, statins also combat certain tumors. Statins have previously been shown to have anti-tumor effects on breast, ovarian, prostate, colon, leukemia and lung cancers. The effect of statins on uterine fibroids was unknown.

"Non-cancerous uterine fibroids are the most common type of tumor in the female reproductive system, accounting for half of the 600,000 hysterectomies done annually in the U.S. Their estimated annual cost is up to $34 billion in the U.S. alone," said UTMB's Dr. Mostafa Borahay, assistant professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology and lead author. "Despite this, the exact cause of these tumors is not well understood, as there are several genetic, familial and hormonal abnormalities linked with their development."

Cholesterol-fighting statins inhibit uterine fibroid tumors that account for 50% of hysterectomies

Statins could ease coughing in lung disease patients, study finds -- ScienceDaily

In continuation of my update on Statins

Common cholesterol-lowering drugs could provide relief to patients suffering from a chronic lung disease, a study has shown. The drugs -- known as statins -- were found to help alleviate the chronic coughing associated with the disease for some patients.

Statins could ease coughing in lung disease patients, study finds 

First drug to significantly improve heart failure mortality in over a decade

We know that, Coenzyme Q₁₀, also known as ubiquinone, ubidecarenone, coenzyme Q, and abbreviated at times to CoQ₁₀, CoQ, or Q₁₀ is a 1,4-benzoquinone, where Q refers to the quinone chemical group, and 10 refers to the number of isoprenyl chemical subunits in its tail.

This oil-soluble, vitamin-like substance is present in most eukaryotic cells, primarily in the mitochondria. It is a component of the electron transport chain and participates in aerobic cellular respiration, generating energy in the form of ATP. Ninety-five percent of the human body’s energy is generated this way.  Therefore, those organs with the highest energy requirements—such as the heart, liver and kidney—have the highest CoQ₁₀ concentrations.There are three redox states of CoQ₁₀: fully oxidized (ubiquinone), semiquinone (ubisemiquinone), and fully reduced (ubiquinol). The capacity of this molecule to exist in a completely oxidized form and a completely reduced form enables it to perform its functions in the electron transport chain and as an antioxidant respectively.

Now double blind controlled trials have shown that CoQ10 improves symptoms, functional capacity and quality of life in patients with heart failure with no side effects. But until now, no trials have been statistically powered to address effects on survival.

The Q-SYMBIO study (2) randomised 420 patients with severe heart failure (New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III or IV) to CoQ10 or placebo and followed them for 2 years. The primary endpoint was time to first major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) which included unplanned hospitalisation due to worsening of heart failure, cardiovascular death, urgent cardiac transplantation and mechanical circulatory support. Participating centres were in Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, India, Malaysia and Australia.

CoQ10 halved the risk of MACE, with 29 (14%) patients in the CoQ10 group reaching the primary endpoint compared to 55 (25%) patients in the placebo group (hazard ratio=2; p=0.003). CoQ10 also halved the risk of dying from all causes, which occurred in 18 (9%) patients in the CoQ10 group compared to 36 (17%) patients in the placebo group (hazard ratio=2.1; p=0.01).

CoQ10 treated patients had significantly lower cardiovascular mortality (p=0,02) and lower occurrence of hospitalisations for heart failure (p=0.05). There were fewer adverse events in the CoQ10 group compared to the placebo group (p=0.073).

Professor Mortensen said: "CoQ10 is the first medication to improve survival in chronic heart failure since ACE inhibitors and beta blockers more than a decade ago and should be added to standard heart failure therapy."

First drug to significantly improve heart failure mortality in over a decade

First combination drug to treat type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol receives FDA approval

In continuation of my update on Simvastin

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Juvisync (sitagliptin and simvastatin), a fixed-dose combination (FDC) prescription medication that contains two previously approved medicines in one tablet for use in adults who need both sitagliptin and simvastatin.....

More....

Statins as anticancer and anti diabetic agents ?

We know that statins are widely used as cholesterol lowering drugs. They act by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the mevalonate pathway that leads to the synthesis of farnesyl pyrophosphate, a precursor for cholesterol synthesis and the source of lipid moieties for protein prenylation. But researchers from University of Gothenburg, have found that statins might be useful as anticancer and antidiabetic too.

Statins lower cholesterol by blocking certain enzymes involved in our metabolism. However, they have also been shown to affect other important lipids in the body, such as the lipids that help proteins to attach to the cell membrane (known as lipid modification). Because many of the proteins that are lipid-modified cause cancer, there are now hopes that it will be possible to use statins in the treatment of cancer.

Studies show that statins can have a dramatic inhibitory effect on growth and development. As the researchers managed to identify the enzyme involved, they can also explain how the effect arises at molecular level. Not least that they can prevent the growth of cancer cells caused by lipid-modified proteins, but also that they can be effective in the treatment of diabetes and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's. In one of my earlier blog, I have mentioned about the simvastin (Simvastatin prevents progression of Parkinson's Disease ?).

So in the days to come statins may be useful as anticancer, anti diabetic and even to treat Parkinsons disaese....


Source : http://www.science.gu.se/english/News/News_detail/Cholesterol-lowering_medicines_may_be_effective_against_cancer.cid898016