A new study reveals that statins—commonly used cholesterol-lowering drugs—may block a particular pathway involved in the development of cancer that results from chronic inflammation. The findings are published in Nature Communications.
“Chronic inflammation is a major cause of cancer worldwide,” said the senior author. “We investigated the mechanism by which environmental toxins drive the initiation of cancer-prone chronic inflammation in the skin and pancreas,” says the author. “Furthermore, we examined safe and effective therapies to block this pathway in order to suppress chronic inflammation and its cancer aftermath.”
The authors study relied on cell lines, animal models, human tissue samples and epidemiological data. The group’s cell-based experiments demonstrated that environmental toxins (such as exposure to allergens and chemical irritants) activate two connected signaling pathways called the TLR3/4 and TBK1-IRF3 pathways. This activation leads to the production of the interleukin-33 (IL-33) protein, which stimulates inflammation in the skin and pancreas that can contribute to the development of cancer.
When they screened a library of U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved drugs, the researchers found that a statin, pitavastatin, effectively suppresses IL-33 expression by blocking the activation of the TBK1-IRF3 signaling pathway. In mice, pitavastatin suppressed environmentally-induced inflammation in the skin and the pancreas and prevented the development of inflammation-related pancreatic cancers.
In human pancreas tissue samples, IL-33 was over-expressed in samples from patients with chronic pancreatitis (inflammation) and pancreatic cancer compared with normal pancreatic tissue. Also, in analyses of electronic health records data on more than 200 million people across North America and Europe, use of pitavastatin was linked to a significantly reduced risk of chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer.
The findings demonstrate that blocking IL-33 production with pitavastatin may be a safe and effective preventive strategy to suppress chronic inflammation and the subsequent development of certain cancers.
“Next, we aim to further examine the impact of statins in preventing cancer development in chronic inflammation in liver and gastrointestinal tract and to identify other novel, therapeutic approaches to suppress cancer-prone chronic inflammation” said the author.
Latest News
Regular snoring could be ba…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Jun
Circadian rhythm drives the…
By newseditor
Posted 21 Jun
Six distinct types of depre…
By newseditor
Posted 21 Jun
Key role of a growth factor…
By newseditor
Posted 21 Jun
Bidirectional BCI functiona…
By newseditor
Posted 19 Jun
Other Top Stories
A toxic substance found in Staph bacteria stimulates tissue regener…
Read more
Will SARS-CoV-2 become endemic?
Read more
Evaluation of three coronavirus interactions with host targets
Read more
Fats provide immunity against bacteria
Read more
New blood test predicts which COVID-19 patients will develop severe…
Read more
Protocols
Deciphering spatial domains…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Jun
High-throughput volumetric…
By newseditor
Posted 21 Jun
Bioengineered human colon o…
By newseditor
Posted 14 Jun
Development of an efficient…
By newseditor
Posted 12 Jun
A co-culture system of macr…
By newseditor
Posted 10 Jun
Publications
Social Isolation and Loneli…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Jun
Regular snoring is associat…
By newseditor
Posted 24 Jun
Programmed cell death: NINJ…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Jun
Circadian-clock-controlled…
By newseditor
Posted 21 Jun
Personalized brain circuit…
By newseditor
Posted 21 Jun
Presentations
Myelin plasticity in the ve…
By newseditor
Posted 10 Jun
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar