McMaster links statin muscle pain to immune response
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- McMaster University researchers identified an immune response inside muscle cells that may explain why statins cause pain, weakness, and exercise intolerance in some users.
- The study, published in Science Advances, found that statins disrupt how muscle cells generate energy, triggering an internal immune response that damages tissue.
- Senior author Jonathan Schertzer said the mechanism causing muscle damage appears separate from the cholesterol-lowering mechanism, suggesting side effects could be targeted without reducing cardiovascular benefits.
- An estimated 7 to 29 percent of statin users experience muscle-related symptoms, and some patients reduce doses or stop taking the medication because of them.
- In lab experiments, blocking the immune response in muscle cells and mouse models prevented much of the statin-related muscle damage while preserving cholesterol reduction.
- First authors Nazli Robin and Nicole Barra led the work in the Schertzer Lab at McMaster's Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences.
- The international collaboration included the Centre International de Recherche en Infectiologie in Lyon, the University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The Royal Children's Hospital, and York University, funded by NSERC.
Why it matters: For the 7-29% of statin users who experience muscle symptoms—and the additional patients who skip or quit their medication to avoid that pain—this finding pinpoints an immune pathway that could be blocked separately from the drug's cholesterol-lowering effect, opening a route to better adherence and fewer premature discontinuations.
