This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Atorvastatin + Rebif in MS (Safety Trial)
Gary Birnbaum

This nine-month trial looked at combining statins with Rebif. It had 3 arms: Rebif + placebo, Rebif + 40mg statins, and Rebif + 80mg statins daily for 6 months. The trial included 29 subjects who had each been stable on Rebif for at least six months. Five subjects dropped out either before or during treatment, one due to muscle pain (a known problem with statins). Unfortunately, 67% of the people on combined Rebif plus statins wound up having a clinical event or a new MRI lesion during the trial, compared with 11% on placebo (statistically significant). The study investigators speculate that statins may block interferon signalling, and conclude that it is probably not safe to take statins with interferons.

Statins Block Interferon Signaling in Human Immune Cells: Potential Loss of the Therapeutic Effect of IFN-β in Multiple Sclerosis
Anthony Reder

This presentation described research into how statins might modify the effects of interferons. Several different cell lines were activated with either IFN-beta or IFN-gamma, resulting in an increase of STAT-1 expression. When statins were added, this expression decreased. These results might explain the decrease in efficacy seen in the Rebif + statins combination trial described above. (I wonder how much testing of this type was conducted before the clinical trial began?)