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Statins lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease. Now, new research from Spain indicates they may also fight HIV. In the study, statins alone given to HIV patients suppressed the virus and helped replenish T-cells.

According to the team at the Spanish Council for Scientific Research, statins seem to stop HIV from infecting cells by keeping them from opening the cell membrane and by stopping the virus from leaving infected cells. "Our results indicate that statins might be suitable antiretroviral drugs for more accessible AIDS treatment," the scientists wrote. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) can suppress HIV and allow the immune system to function, but the drugs are expensive and have side effects. One side effect is lipodystrophy, a series of metabolic changes that can raise cholesterol levels and cause body fat to be redistributed. Patients experiencing lipodystrophy are often given statins. To see if statins themselves might affect the course of infection, immunologist Gustavo del Real and colleagues tested HIV-infected cells in a lab dish, then in mice. "Results suggest that HIV-1 entry into and exit from the host cell require actin cytoskeleton rearrangement and adequate cholesterol levels in host and viral membranes," the researchers wrote.

Next, the team tested six HAART-naďve HIV patients, administering Iovastatin for one month. They found that viral levels fell and T-cells rose. When statin therapy was halted, viral levels rebounded.

Editor's Note: from the Associated Press