High cholesterol levels are considered to be a risk factor not only for cardiovascular disease including stroke, but also for the development of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to the cholesterol reducing effect of medications known as statins, Amalia Dolga, PhD, of the University of Groningen, and her co-investigators have demonstrated that statins can protect nerve cells against damage which is known to occur in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease patients. The results are published in the June 2009 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

How nerve cells die in Alzheimer’s disease is complex but we know that nerve cells eventually die because they are strongly overstimulated, a process called excitotoxicity. In animal experiments conducted in the laboratory of Professor Ulrich Eisel, Department of Molecular Neurobiology, University of Groningen, Dolga and colleagues overstimulated such nerve cells. They clearly demonstrated that treatment with a statin called lovastatin could prevent the death of nerve cells under these conditions. The statins not only prevented cells from dying but also prevented the loss of memory capacity that normally occurs after such cell death.

In a previous study Dolga had showed that statins like lovastatin stimulate the protective capacity of tumor necrosis factor, which is a key player in the brain’s immune response.

Dolga has demonstrated in animal experiments that this tumor necrosis factor (TNF) has a strong beneficial effect on nerve cells and can protect nerve cells against death. Statins can activate this TNF neuroprotective pathway revealing strong beneficial effect (Courtesy of EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS).

Reference: “Pretreatment with Lovastatin Prevents N-Methyl-D-Aspartate-Induced Neurodegeneration in the Magnocellular Nucleus Basalis and Behavioral Dysfunction” Amalia M. Dolga, et al Volume 17:2 (June 2009) Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.