Cholesterol Drugs May Fight Rheumatoid Arthritis

Cholesterol-lowering drugs, already widely used to cut the risk of heart attack and tipped as a prevention for some cancers, may also help fight rheumatoid arthritis, scientists said on Friday.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs, already widely used to cut the risk of heart attack and tipped as a prevention for some cancers, may also help fight rheumatoid arthritis, scientists said on Friday. Researchers from the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Scotland found a small but statistically significant improvement in arthritis symptoms in patients given 40 mg of Pfizer’s Lipitor daily in addition to standard arthritis medication. The news underscores the reputation of cholesterol-lowering statins — the world’s top-selling drug class with global sales of $22 billion a year — as potential wonder pills. Already hailed for revolutionizing the management of heart disease, statins are also being studied in the fight against multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, glaucoma and osteoporosis, as well as in preventing various forms of cancer. The new study reported in The Lancet, which involved 116 patients randomly allocated to receive Lipitor or a placebo for six months, was the first controlled trial of a statin in rheumatoid arthritis. It adds to a growing body of evidence that statins could have important anti-inflammatory properties, since rheumatoid arthritis is a disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the joints. “The clinical benefit is modest … but there is a hint that something is happening,” Professor Iain McInnes, one of the researchers behind the study, told Reuters. His team found patients on average reported a reduction of swelling in three joints — significantly less than the 6-8 joints relieved with modern rheumatoid arthritis drugs, known as TNF blockers, which must be given by injection. Most patients entering such trials have an average of 12-15 swollen joints at the start. Although the symptomatic benefits may be limited statins could still become an important future part of treatment since rheumatoid arthritis sufferers have an inherently higher risk of heart attack and stroke. A drug that can relieve swelling while cutting cholesterol could therefore prove a winner. “Although of limited size and short term, their findings support the use of atorvastatin (Lipitor), and presumably other statins, to prevent cardiovascular disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis,” Lars Klareskog and Anders Hamsten said in an accompanying editorial. McInnes and his colleagues now plan to conduct a large-scale clinical trial, lasting three to five years, to see whether adding statins to standard treatment improves the survival of rheumatoid arthritis sufferers. (Source: Reuters Health, June 2004)