FASEB J: "statins" -- how can lipid lowering drugs cause muscle pain?

February 12, 2020 / biogood / -- in clinical practice, patients who take statins to reduce blood cholesterol often complain of muscle pain, but we still don't know why In a recent study, Alexandra K kiemer, a pharmaceutical scientist at Sal University, and Professor Jessica hopper ä DTER found a potential causal relationship As a result of their work, statins can cause overexpression of a protein called gilz, which can damage the function of muscle cells The study was recently published in the journal FASEB Journal (image source: www Pixabay Com) as a good cholesterol lowering drug, statins are one of the most commonly used prescription drugs in the world In general, statins are highly tolerated in patients However, in some cases, patients who use statins complain of muscle pain or weakness In response, Alexandra K kiemer and her team found the real cause of muscle pain in patients taking statins: a protein called gilz has an important role "The main function of gilz is actually to inhibit the inflammatory process in the body Statins can prevent cardiovascular disease not only by reducing cholesterol levels in the blood, but also by reducing vasculitis That's why we think there might be a link between statins and gilz Data show that gilz in the body may have both positive and negative effects " Based on initial speculation that there may be a link between protein gilz and statins and their side effects, drug researchers began to analyze a large number of data sets from research databases around the world After confirming their initial suspicions, the researchers were able to confirm their hypothesis by conducting a series of experiments on living cells "Statins lead to increased cell production of gilz protein However, this can lead to impaired muscle function, as increased gilz production can lead to increased muscle cell mortality In addition, it also inhibits the formation of muscle fibers " Alexandra K kiemer said Then, the team tried to block the activity of gilz protein in living cells and observed the effect of statins "We found that when statins were added to gilz's inactivated muscle cells or whole muscle fibers, previous cell damage events no longer existed," kiemer said Sources of information: statins: researchers uncover how optional lowering drugs cause muscle pain original sources: Jessica hope ä DTER et al, the glycorticoid ‐ induced leather zipper media state ‐ induced muscle damage, the FASEB Journal (2020) Doi: 10.1096/fj.201902557rrr