Attenuation of airway inflammation by simvastatin and the implications for asthma treatment: is the jury still out?

Statins, commonly used to prevent cardiovascular disease, should be developed as potential therapies for asthma attacks caused by allergies. Yoo Seob Shin and colleagues at Ajou University in South Korea investigated the merits of this long-standing and controversial proposal with an experimental study and a comprehensive literature review. Simvastatin significantly decreased the inflammatory response in the airways of mice that were allergic to the protein ovalbumin, thereby acting as a model of allergic asthma. The researchers identified some key aspects of simvastatin's currently poorly understood anti-inflammatory and immune modulating actions. Most significantly, the drug reduced the expression of specific cell adhesion molecules on cell surfaces that bind T-cells of the immune system and thus promote inflammation. The literature review strongly supported the potential of statins to treat allergic asthma, despite some conflicting results.