by Biologist » Sun Jul 29, 2007 5:50 pm
Brian,
I read the pdf. Thanks. Good find. Also thanks for the warning. It was pretty heavy duty. Here's my take on it: It provides the mechanism for statin damage which is (at least in part) the undesirable increase or decrease in production of some proteins by "stimulating" the genes that encode for the given proteins. I sure like that idea, as bad as it is, better than screwing up the "master template" which is the DNA molecule itself (which is a basis for mutations). Inappropriate "readings" off the DNA are being done and translated into wrong and/or unnecessary "parts" (some of which are incorporated into cellular structures too, I would imagine, which is not a good thing). So, presumably, once the statin is discontinued, this "error" (i.e., "set of errors") can be fixed. It is kind of like running a car manufacturing plant and ordering parts from various suppliers to assemble the product. Some suppliers send more driver's side door handles than you could ever use and at the same time, there is not enough transmission fluid getting in on time. Just screws up the works -- some cars may end up with wrong door handles and oil rather than fluid in the transmission. They did not speak of permanent changes just the results of the influence they measured at the time. It would have been nice if they followed up in some months or years to see if biopsies showed normalization of gene expression after cessation of the statin (while some existing "product" in stock might still have the wrong handles even after some time to come...)
For other readers, keep in mind that "affecting gene expression" does not imply the genes in question are corrupted, but rather that there is an unnatural increase or decrease in production of that gene's protein.
I noticed several connective tissue genes and muscle genes being effected by Zocor, which sure rings true.
Biologist