TY - JOUR
AU - Emanuele, Enzo
AB -  To the Editor: I read with great interest the article by Delang and coworkers 1 who examined the effects of different statins on hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA replication in vitro . In their study, the authors demonstrated by a series of elegant experiments that mevastatin and simvastatin and, to a lesser extent, lovastatin and fluvastatin exhibited a significant anti‐HCV activity. Notably, these results are in keeping with those of a pilot clinical study demonstrating that fluvastatin was safe in HCV‐infected patients and capable to exert suppressive effects of HCV replication. 2 Intriguingly, statins were also able to prevent or delay the development of resistance against inhibitors of HCV replication. 1 This certainly suggests a potential clinical usefulness of high‐dose statins used in combination with the current standard therapy in HCV‐infected patients as a method to delay or prevent the development of drug‐resistant variants. After the introduction of statins as effective lipid‐lowering drugs, these agents have been intensively promoted in a number of noncardiac conditions in the light of their potential pleiotropic effects. 3 However, if we take an overview of the evidence available for the anti‐HCV effect of statins, we notice that it is currently somewhat weak. 
TI - Statins and hepatitis C virus: Friend or foe?
JO - Hepatology
DO - 10.1002/hep.23087
DA - 2010-01-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/statins-and-hepatitis-c-virus-friend-or-foe-SZm0jsbfAT
SP - 352
EP - 352
VL - 51
IS - 1
DP - DeepDyve
ER -