For Children With Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Statin Does Not Improve Cognitive Function
July 16th, 2008 | by admin |
For children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a genetic disorderthat often leads to learning disability, cognitive function is notimproved by the statin simvastatin, according to an article released onJuly 15 in JAMA.
NF1 is characterized by the development of tumors in Schwann cells inthe nervous system. It is genetically transmitted with an autosomaldominant pattern, which means that it is not linked to sex chromosome,but only one parent needs to contribute the variant gene for a child todevelop the disorder.
These tumors can be harmless but can also compress nerve cells thuscausing damage. Clinically, the disease symptoms include skindisorders, problems with small and large movement skills, and cognitivedisabilities. Some examples of this cognitive disability include lossof visual-spatial skills, nonverbal long-term memory and attentionspan.
Statins are a class of drugs presently used in adults to lowercholesterol. Previously, some studies in mice have indicated thattherapy with statins could improve some cognitive deficits. Toinvestigate the potential effects of a specific statin, simvastatin, onthe cognitive function of children with neurofibromatosis type 1,Lianne C. Krab, M.Sc., of Erasmus MC University Medical Center, SophiaChildren’s Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and colleaguesperformed a randomized trial. A total 62 children received simvastatinor a placebo treatment once daily for 12 weeks.
After the period of treatment, several cognitive tests were performedto address nonverbal long-term memory, attention, and performance onthe prism adaptation task, which measures the adaptation of handmovements in response to distortion of a prism glass. No advantage wasshown for the test group over the placebo in this respect. Secondaryoutcomes were evaluated as well, including object assembly scores,which showed some improvement in the test population. Other measures,such as attention fluctuation and motor-visual integration showed noimprovement.
The authors conclude that simvastatin has no effect on the improvementof cognitive problems developed in victims of neurofibromatosis type 1.”The negative outcome of this trial suggests that simvastatin shouldnotbe prescribed to ameliorate the cognitive deficits associated with NF1.Further studies to evaluate a longer treatment period and whether theobject assembly finding is spurious may be warranted,” they conclude.
Effect of Simvastatin on Cognitive Functioning in ChildrenWith Neurofibromatosis Type 1: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Lianne C. Krab; Arja de Goede-Bolder; Femke K. Aarsen; Saskia M. F.Pluijm; Marlies J. Bouman; Jos N. van der Geest; Maarten Lequin;Coriene E. Catsman; Willem Frans M. Arts; Steven A. Kushner; Alcino J.Silva; Chris I. de Zeeuw; Henri?tte A. Moll; Ype Elgersma
JAMA. 2008;300(3):287-294.
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Written by Anna Sophia McKenney
Copyright: Medical News Today
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